Anchored
by SpriteTheWarrior
Summary: Kitty is content to keep to herself, but John just won't leave her alone. Kyro.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Set post X3, but is AU in the sense that Pyro never joined Magneto and the Professor is still alive. This is mostly movie-verse but I did take some canon from the comics and made up some things into my own special brand of canon. Just go with it.

This is being written for the Writing Marathon on the forum The Muse Bunny. The prompts for this piece were to start a scene with "If my life were any emptier, it would've even exist" and to write about the main characters "skeleton in the closet."

Comments/critique/ideas extremely welcome!

* * *

"If my life were any emptier, it wouldn't even exist," Rogue sighed forlornly as she lounged on her bed staring up at the ceiling.

Kitty rolled her eyes and idly threw a pillow at her from where she sat on _her_ bed, working on chemistry homework.

"Hey!" Rogue cried as the pillow bounced off of her face.

"What?" Kitty asked, looking up from her textbook and smiling sweetly. "You needed that and you know it. Your life is plenty full."

"It was. It's just…" Rogue let out another gusty sigh.

"What?" Kitty prompted, trying to sound helpful rather than annoyed as she capped her pen and tucked her paper inside the Chemistry book before snapping it closed. Once Rogue went off on a tangent like this Kitty knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her homework for quite some time.

"I thought taking the Cure would make everything better. You know?" Rogue replied, turning her face so she was looking at her roommate.

Kitty shrugged, leaning over and placing the book on her painfully neat nightstand.

"Sometimes, one thing can't fix everything," she answered slowly.

"I guess. I just…I did it for me. But everyone thinks it was for Bobby."

"Did it make you happy?"

"Yes…at first. I mean…it still does sometimes. I can touch people now. I can wear shorts and T-shirts and flip flops like a normal girl. I don't have to worry about killing someone if I brush up against them in the hall or on the street. I can have hugs and shake hands and even kiss people!"

"Those all seem like good things. Who cares if everyone thinks it was for Bobby? You know who it was for."

"…I never thought I would miss being an X-Man, you know?" Rogue whispered, twisting a lock of snow white hair around her finger.

"Why?" Kitty asked a look of shock on her face as she lounged back against the wall that her bed was pushed up against.

"I was always horrible in the Danger Room sessions. I was too afraid of my mutation to ever use it. You're a much better X-Man than I ever was."

Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"What? You are! You can phase people and get them out of the way. You're an asset. I was just a liability."

"Well…" Kitty began thoughtfully. "You aren't a liability any more since you aren't an X-man or doing Danger Room sessions."

"But I've got nothing! All I do is go to class and come back to this room. Everyone shies away from me now, not because they're afraid of me but because I'm a disgrace. I turned my back on all of them."

"And you're just going to have to live with that," Kitty replied back waspishly. "It was your choice and you said that it made you happy so that just has to be enough!"

The agitated girl then rose to her feet and stalked across the room to the doorway, shooting Rogue one last disparaging look before she phased, vanishing through its surface.

* * *

John lurked in an alcove just off the library, lounging against the wall and flicking his lighter, for no other reason than he was bored and this place offered him a good view of passersby without him being readily seen. No one had walked by in quite some time and he was contemplating going outside when he heard a pair of footsteps running down the hallway.

With a malicious grin on his face he flicked the lighter so that a flame appeared and gathered it in his hand. Timing it by the footsteps, he threw a small ball of fire into the corridor just as he predicted the nameless person would be approaching. He expected shrieking or at least someone to fall down or exclaim or something! Rather, he watched as the person simply melted away and passed through the flames unharmed, stride never even slowing. Glowering, he stormed out of his hiding place and followed the annoying mutant girl, who forced him to go at a quick pace to keep up with her.

Pyro trailed her down the stairs, through the corridors and out the front door where she increased her pace (and he likewise increased his.) Once the girl hit the woods at the rear of the mansion she slowed until she finally came to a stop, wrapping her arms as far as she could around a large tree and pressing her face tightly against the rough bark.

Now that they were stationary, Pyro was uncertain as to what to do or why he even followed her in the first place. The young man watched in disgust as Kitty began to weep softly against the tree, appearing to press herself even tighter to it until suddenly she became transparent and slipped into the tree.

He walked around it, wondering if she had passed through it without him seeing or if she was somehow still inside the trunk. When he got to the other side he startled - there she was, or at least part of her. Her face emerged from the ashen bark, gazing out soulfully into the woods and looking very much like a youthful version of a dryad.

She gasped when she saw John and her transparent face pulled back a little more.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice quavering a bit, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Followed you."

"Why?"

"You didn't fall for my prank," he replied lamely, still unsure of why he really had followed her. "Why are you in a tree?"

Her eyes closed and she sighed, floating outward until she was free of the trunk. She then resumed her natural un-phased state.

"I came out here to be _alone_," she said pointedly, glaring at him. However, the effect was ruined when she gave a mighty sniff.

"Why are you crying?"

"Why do you care?" she countered.

He shrugged. "I don't, really."

She gave an exasperated sigh.

"I was bored."

"Rogue just got me thinking about things," she began, closing her eyes and slumping backwards against the tree. "She was going on about how she thought the Cure would make her happy but everyone's against her now. And it wasn't even related at all but it got me thinking about something awful that happened a long time ago."

"What have you done that's so awful?" he spat.

"The first time I phased I had a hold of my cousin's arm," she whispered slowly. "We accidentally fell into the wall but we didn't come out on the other side. I didn't understand what had happened. It was so dark and tight and I couldn't move. Somehow I let go of her and I ended up getting out but she didn't."

She looked up at him with haunted eyes.

"I don't know why I just told you that…I've only ever told Storm that…oh God what if you tell everyone? I could be thrown out or arrested or…"

"Stop it! You didn't tell me anything. So you stuck her in the wall for a little while, so what?"

"When you're completely in a solid object you can't breathe! I was so scared I would be trapped again…I didn't go back for her."

John gazed at her perplexedly.

"I killed her," she whispered brokenly. "I killed my cousin."

She turned around and pressed her face to the tree again.

"What did everyone think happened to her?"

"It happened at the library. We met there on Saturdays to study. Mom always came to get me first. I pretended like my cousin was there when I left and everyone just thought she was kidnapped or ran away. The police got involved but they never found anything."

"Did they suspect you?"

"No. They all kept saying it was lucky that mom picked me up when she did or I probably would've vanished too."

"Well, I can see why you were worried about word getting out.

She looked up at him and the blood drained from her face.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to squeal. Besides, this was years ago, right?"

"Yes, I was thirteen."

He shrugged. "Five years might as well have been a lifetime ago. As long as you don't make a habit out of leaving people to die in walls then it's cool. Hell…if you did make a habit out of it that would probably only serve to make you more interesting."

He turned and walked away, leaving Kitty to stare in shock after him.


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: Thanks to my lovely reviewers, **it'scurtainsforyou**, **LoveAroundEmbers** and **Evans Mary**! The prompts for this one were to write about your main character's closest friend and tell how they met and to incorporate books somewhere. Reviews/comments/ideas are great!

* * *

Kitty made her way back inside, wondering what in the world inspired her to spill her darkest secret to John Allerdyce of all people. She hadn't even told her best friend! Of course, since her best friend was Laura Kinney, they didn't talk very much…but still!

She began to ponder her friendship with Laura as she walked. They weren't like most of the other girls in the mansion - they didn't go shopping, or eat ice cream or talk about boys, but they _were_ close. The two girls often studied at the same table, and they frequented each other's rooms. They didn't talk all that much, but the silence was always amenable.

Kitty decided to search around for Laura - she needed some calm reassurance right now and that's what the younger girl tended to offer her. Her mind cast back to the first day that Laura arrived at the school a few months previous…

_Professor Xavier had called Kitty to his office and upon entering the first thing she saw was a girl who looked as though she was about a two or three years younger than Kitty was. She was rather unkempt - her long dark hair hung in tangles to her waist, her clothes were dirty and the look in her eyes was feral._

"_Kitty, this is Laura Kinney. I would like you to help her get settled in. She's got quite a bit of temper so I thought you would be a good person to get her accustomed to the school," the Professor said jovially - the unspoken _because she can't touch you unless you let her _hung in the air between them. "Here's her temporary room assignment," he continued, handing Kitty a slip of paper. _

"_All right," Kitty replied, smiling at the new girl. "Goodbye, Professor," she said, leading Laura from the room. _

_As she showed her around the mansion Laura replied only in grunts and Kitty began to wonder if there was something wrong with her that rendered her unable to speak. _

"_Do you have any luggage?" she asked kindly. _

_Laura shook her head. _

"_All right, well you look to be close to my size so I'm sure we can get you some things from my closet. First, though," she said, stopping in front of a door, "you should probably go in a take a bath. Everything you'll need is in there. When you're done come to my room, it's right there," she said, pointing two doors down the opposite side of the hall. _

_Once Laura disappeared into the bathroom Kitty practically flew to her room and began going through her closet pulling out things she had bought and never worn, or things that were still in good repair but she was tired of. She made sure they all still looked nice - she didn't want everyone thinking the new girl was a charity case or anything. _

_She had just finished when the door opened and Laura came in, wrapped in a bathrobe._

"_I found you a lot of things. Most of these I've never even worn. Oh! Shoes!" Kitty cried, pulling one from her own foot and holding it to Laura. "There, see if you're my size."_

_Laura tried it on and seemed to ponder a moment before nodding._

"_Okay…um…let's see…"Kitty replied, pulling a tote out from under her bed. She looked up to find Laura stroking the pile of clothes with one hand. "Are those okay?"_

_Laura nodded. _

"_Good! Well, if you want to pick out some shoes…"_

_Laura pawed through the box and came up with two pairs. Once she was dressed the two girls gathered up everything and trooped to Laura's new room. The staff had decided she should be alone for now until she adjusted. _

_After getting Laura's new clothes put away Kitty sat the girl down and brushed her hair out before braiding it to keep it out of her way. _

"_There! You're all set. I need to go study now but if you need anything I'm just four doors down the hall," Kitty said, smiling brightly. _

_The girl looked up at her thoughtfully, before opening her mouth and murmuring, "Thank you very much."_

_Kitty blinked in shock - apparently the girl could talk after all._

She found Laura in her room, sitting quietly on her bed doing what appeared to be an essay in French, and Kitty didn't hesitate to flop on the bed beside her. Laura looked over at her, raising one eyebrow, but the girl just shook her head, stole Laura's pillow, and curled around it, closing her eyes.

* * *

John Allerdyce, also known as Pyro, lounged in the library, tipping his chair back to rest on two legs like every authority figure in the world had told him not to do. John wasn't good with authority figures.

He currently occupied a table made for four and he took up every square inch of it all by himself. A French book was open directly in front of him, a chemistry book was just behind that and to either side were calculus and history books. Where there weren't books there were pencils and pens and notebooks and crumpled wads of paper. Just under the table, where no teacher who might be happening to pass by would notice them, were a soft drink, bag of chips and bag of chocolate candies.

At the sound of footsteps he let the front legs of his chair hit the ground with a bang and he quickly propped his feet up in the chair across from him, shoving his book bag in the third chair and a random literature book that he whipped from the depths of his bag in the forth so that no one would get any ideas about joining him. He was not in the mood for company. But then again, was he ever?

John bent over the French book and pulled a notebook close to him, idly conjugating the assigned verbs that were due the following morning. While his body was occupied his mind was focused on the secret that Kitty Pryde had divulged to him earlier in the day. Pyro found it hard to wrap his head around the fact that sweet, innocent, girly little Kitty Pryde had killed someone. Even harder to grasp was why she had told _him about it_. In his experience girls that go by things such as Kitty instead of more mature names like Katherine didn't tend to be killers. Of course, did one time make you a killer? She had said it was an accident.

Mutations often triggered accidents.

He scowled at that thought. Accidents were accidents and you couldn't change them. It wasn't his fault that the bonfire had leapt out at him and started a wildfire. It wasn't his fault that people (some of them his own family) had died and houses had been lost and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages had been accrued. And it wasn't Kitty's fault that she killed her cousin.

Was it?

And how did this new knowledge change the way he looked at her?

He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure at all, and John Allerdyce didn't like being unsure of anything.

Sighing he flung his feet to the ground, slamming his books and notebooks shut and stacking them awkwardly. He grabbed up his backpack and hastily crammed everything into it. He was tired of pretending to study. He would finish the verbs later, after dinner.

After he got his mind off of _her_.

He wondered what other secrets the school, and that girl, held.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Thanks again to my lovely reviewers! The prompt for this one was to write 2,000 words about anything you want. Reviews/comments/etc are love!

* * *

Kitty woke with a start to find herself slumped sideways with a blanket pulled over her, a crick in her neck and a pillow clutched to her chest. It took the girl a moment to realize that she was still in Laura's room and that, judging by the darkened state of things and the mighty growl that her stomach gave, she had missed dinner. She sat up, pushing her hair back off her face and looking around. Laura was asleep on the floor with her other pillow under her head and a spare blanket tucked around her.

She got up off her friend's bed and knelt beside her, shaking her softly while murmuring, "Laura?"

The girl sat straight up, claws erupting from her knuckles as her hands shot out straight towards Kitty's neck. The girl phased automatically as she realized the danger, but she still cried out - phasing through adamantium was a painful experience as she well knew. Kitty tumbled backwards away from the claws and resumed her solid state just before she phased right through the floor.

"Laura, it's just me," she gasped, one hand clutching her neck.

The younger girl rose to her feet and clicked on the bedside lamp. "I'm sorry," she voiced softly, staring at Kitty's prone form on the ground.

"It's all right," Kitty replied, laboriously gaining her feet. "I was just going to tell you I was going to my room, so you could have your bed back. Why didn't you wake me?"

The girl shrugged and gathered her pillow and blanket up off the floor.

"Thanks, Laura," Kitty whispered before phasing through the door.

Her neck still burned like someone had shoved a red hot poker through it and tears rolled steadily and unbidden down her cheeks.

"You have had worse," she reminded herself sternly as she phased through the floor into the library and through the library into the kitchen. "You have had worse, this is nothing," she repeated, attempting to stem the flow of tears.

As she fell through the ceiling and dropped lightly onto the linoleum, John looked up from where he sat at the counter on a bar stool shoveling cereal into his mouth.

"What time is it?" she asked, quickly turning her back so he wouldn't see that she was crying.

"Around one in the morning. You missed dinner."

"Yep," she replied absently, wiping her face on her sleeve.

John's eyes narrowed. "What happened to your neck?"

"What?" she asked, turning halfway to face him.

"You're got four welts on the back of your neck."

"Oh, I woke up Laura," she replied, turning to face him completely and leaning against the refrigerator.

"They're on the front too. That wasn't wise."

"Well, I fell asleep in her bed and she was on the floor so…why am I even explaining myself to you?" she asked.

"I don't know, Kitten."

"Don't call me that," she growled.

"I didn't know you had a healing factor."

"I don't."

"Then why are there welts instead of, you know, blood and gore and death?" he asked, waving his spoon around for emphasis.

"I phased when she came at me."

"I didn't think anything could hurt you when you were phased."

"Adamantium can. It leaves welts for a few days and hurts for a while. If I pass through enough of it I get extremely disoriented."

"How'd you figure that one out?"

"Took a shortcut through Professor Logan one day."

"Ouch."

"That's one way of putting it."

"Your neck still hurt?"

"Like it's on fire," she sighed, pushing off from the refrigerator so she could turn and retrieve milk from it.

John moved past her and began to rummage around in the freezer and the drawers while she fixed her own bowl of cereal. She took her bowl over to the breakfast nook and sat down, looking up in surprise when John slid onto the bench next to her.

"Here," he said, reaching toward her with two towels tied together.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"Just hold still," he snapped, wrapping them around her neck. She jumped a bit and then sighed when she realized he had made ice packs. He tied the towel ends together at the back of her neck and adjusted them where the ice covered the welts and most of the rest of her neck.

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling at him. "That was…very kind of you."

He shrugged.

"So, why'd you fall asleep in Laura's room?"

"That's where I went after…after I came in from the forest."

"Oh. Why'd you go to her?"

She looked at him, exasperation and annoyance marring her features. "Because she's my best friend. And she doesn't ask me what's wrong - she knows if I want to talk about it I will in my own time. She doesn't push and she doesn't pressure and she doesn't gossip like ninety-seven percent of the other girls in this school. God…why do I even keep talking to you?"

"Because I'm around and you don't want to get run through again?"

"Laura would not have run me through had she been awake."

"I see. Oh, Bobby said something about he was supposed to give you a message that the Professor wanted to see you tomorrow morning."

Her face paled.

John's expression darkened into a scowl. "I didn't tell on you. I told you I wouldn't and I keep my word." He shrugged. "Everyone's got skeletons in the closet, Kitten, even you."

With that he dropped his cereal bowl in the sink and walked out of the room.

* * *

The next morning Kitty woke to Rogue's alarm going off as she did nearly every other morning. By the time Rogue had hit the snooze button four times and reset the clock entirely twice, Kitty was up, showered, dressed and halfway through the French homework she had failed to complete the night before due to her unintentional nap.

"Hey, Kit," Rogue yawned. "You all right?"

"Yes, why?" she asked, thinking of the welts that were still on her neck. However, she had worn a turtle neck on purpose today.

"You stormed out and then I didn't see you all afternoon and you missed dinner. I'm sorry if I made you mad."

"It's all right," Kitty replied, smiling at her roommate, feeling relief that it wasn't at all about her neck. "I'm over it. And I hung out with Laura yesterday."

"She missed dinner too."

"Oh."

"She's a strange one," Rogue commented.

"No stranger than anyone else here," Kitty countered defensively.

"Well, you're right about that I suppose."

Rogue wondered off, presumably to take a shower and Kitty continued to conjugate her verbs in peace, at least until the girl returned.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, causing Kitty to glance up. "I forgot to tell you! Professor Xavier wants a word with you today before classes."

"Oh, yea, John mentioned something about that last night. I completely forgot!"

"John?"

"Yes. I went down for cereal last night and he was there. I'd better go check in with the professor."

She quickly gathered up the books she would need for her morning classes and phased out of the room, making her way downstairs to the professor's office. She knocked and heard him beckon her in before she phased through the door.

"Good morning, Kitty, are you well?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's good to hear. If you would have a seat I would like to speak with you about something."

Kitty perched in one of the chairs and clutched her book bag to her chest.

"No need to be nervous," he smiled. "As you are well aware the fall term is coming to an end in three short weeks. Will you be staying with us over Christmas?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, good. Well, after the break we will have four new students joining us, a boy and three girls. While we do have plenty of bedrooms left, I like to foster the concept of community and teamwork by having people room in pairs or trios. I would like to place two of the newcomers in with Miss Rasputin, seeing as how her roommate left us this past spring. The third female newcomer I would like to place with Rogue."

"Rogue? Not Rogue and me?"

"I think that Miss Kinney has had enough time to adjust to the school and it is time to introduce her to the concept of sharing her room. Since you seem to be her only friend and the only one that can escape an attack from her with relatively little harm, I would like you to become her roommate. Do you have any objections?"

Kitty idly rubbed her neck and realized that had Laura attacked nearly anyone else like that it would have killed them. There really wasn't anyone else that could room with her presently.

"No, I don't. When would you like me to switch rooms?"

"Whenever you would like. The sooner the better I suppose. I spoke with Miss Kinney yesterday and Logan will be moving the appropriate furniture in today."

She nodded. "I'll start moving my things later today."

"Good. Thank you, Miss Pryde."

"It's no trouble. Have a good day, Professor."

The day flew by and the next thing she knew a three hour break was looming before her. Kitty wandered down to Laura's room to find that a nightstand, dresser and bed had been placed there for her, as well as a small lamp.

"Hey, Laura."

Laura gave her a nod of recognition.

"The Professor talked to you about me being your new roommate?"

Another nod.

"Do you care if I move my stuff in today?"

A shake this time.

"All right, I'll be back," Kitty announced brightly. She, unlike the other students, was well used to Laura's non-verbal tendencies.

First she took all the shirts out of her closet and trooped down the hall to hang them in the new one, and then she returned for pants and skirts. Next went the totes that were in the top of the closet, then the ones in the bottom. Once that was finished she began to carry stacks of clothes from the old dresser to the new one, one drawer at a time. Next to go was the tote of shoes from under her bed, as well as the tote of journals, notebooks and books. She then moved the knick knacks, mementos and makeup that were in her nightstand, as well as the bath tote that contained her toiletries. The pink rug beside her bed went next and the last things to go were her bed linens.

She was busy stripping her bed and putting on the plain linens that were automatically on any new student's bed when Rogue came in. She took stock of the empty closet and the lack of rug.

"…are you leaving?" she nearly shouted.

"No, oh, Rogue, I thought the Professor would have talked to you!" Kitty wailed.

"About what?"

"He wants me to move in with Laura. You'll have the room to yourself for a while. You won't be getting a new roommate until January when the new term starts."

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry, I thought he'd said something to you."

Just then Bobby burst through the door, "Hey, Rogue! I forgot! I was supposed to tell you the Professor wanted to see you this morning."

Rogue glared at him.

"I figured that out, Bobby!"

"Oops."

"It's okay," she sighed. "I'll meet you in the library in a few minutes?"

"Sure!" he replied, closing the door behind him.

"Well…" Rogue began. "That explains why the Professor didn't give me a heads up."

"I guess it does. Well…if you need anything I'll be four doors down the hall. And if you get too lonely we can badger them to put a third bed in there and you can move in with us!" Kitty said.

Rogue laughed. "All right then, good luck with your new roommate. Now get out of my room!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:** Thanks to **KyroxIsxSmexy**, **LoveAroundEmbers **and **Evans Mary** for their lovely reviews! Also, thank you, **LoveAroundEmbers** for the idea of incorporating Laura's history - I'll try my best to do that in a natural way as the story progresses.

This time we were to include the quotes "A free drink will never get you anywhere," "My hands are busy," "Misery loves company," and "What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything." We were also to include a phone call.

* * *

Kitty made her way down the hall to her new room, which she still thought of as Laura's room. Once there she made up her bed, carefully pulling the corners of the pale pink sheets tight like her mom had taught her and smoothing the bright pink comforter until it was tight enough to bounce a quarter off of.

Her new roommate was no longer in said room, her homework was completed and she didn't have to be anywhere for another hour and a half, so she wandered down the stairs and ended up in the rec room. Blink was clicking the TV channels, watching each one for just long enough to get a good look at the screen and hear about one sentence of dialogue.

_Blink._

A tired looking woman with slightly rumpled hair slumped over a bar while a man in a sharp business suit grinned at her. "A free drink will never get you anywhere," the woman sighed at him before sliding off the stool and…

_Blink._

A woman was up to her elbows in bread dough while two little girls ran madly around the kitchen table; meanwhile, on top of the table a baby in a bouncy seat began to cry. "Anna! Rose!" the woman called out. The little girls kept moving rapidly. "My hands are busy!" she yelled and the girls…

_Blink._

Another bar scene. _God, _Kitty thought_, was daytime TV nothing but trash nowadays? _Three men sat together in a row on the stools and were approached by a forth. The bartender placed another round in front of all of them, muttering under his breath, "Misery loves company."

_Blink._

Kitty sighed, leaving the rec room through the south wall and making her way up one level to the library. It was largely deserted, which was just how she liked it, and the girl floated through shelves to the rear, using her powers to manipulate the air currents and climb with relative ease up to the topmost shelf. Once there she rummaged around behind the other books until she caught hold of the spine of the book that she had hidden up there several days before. She was a science geek - she didn't want her reputation ruined by people spotting her reading French literature. Once she had it grasped firmly she descended to the ground and made her way to her favorite chair in the most hidden alcove of the library.

When she slipped through the shelves and came within view of her special place she scowled, clutching the book to her chest - someone was in her chair. Not just someone. John Allerdyce.

"Hello, Kitten," he grinned.

"Get out of my chair," she growled.

"You're chair?" he inquired, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. My chair. It's my favorite. I'm the only one that ever sits in it so get up!"

"You could sit in my lap," he offered, grinning at her lecherously and wiggling his eyebrows.

"God, you are revolting," she snapped.

"Ooo, God…you think so very highly of me, Kitten."

Making an intelligible noise of annoyance, Kitty lobbed the book at his head.

Chuckling softly John caught the book with ease just before it came into contact with his face. Turning it over the young mutant grinned once more.

"_Les Miserables_, Kitten? Really? I would have pegged you for _The Elegant Universe_ or _A Brief History of Time_."

"Just because I'm a science geek doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good piece of French Literature!"

He opened the volume and flipped through it. "In the original language, rather than a translation. I am _quite_ impressed, Kitten."

"If you don't stop calling me that I swear upon all that is holy that I will get you stuck in that chair so you have to walk around with it through your middle!" she fumed.

"Why not just stick me in a wall? Then I'd be out of your hair for good," he drawled.

Her breath caught in her throat and the blood rushed from her face leaving her pale as a ghost. A fine trembling started in her muscles.

"You…you're…" she squeaked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Would you like your book and chair back, Kitten?" he asked sweetly, rising to his feet and giving a tiny bow.

"Keep them," she whispered, turning and phasing through the shelves. John followed her, though he was much slower as he actually had to navigate around things rather than just taking a shortcut through them.

He heard the footsteps when she hit the marble floor of the corridor and so he picked up his pace. She thundered up the stairs and he was gaining on her, however she navigated through a few walls to give him the slip. He judged by her direction that she was aiming for her bedroom and just as he reached it she floated out of the opposite wall. He heard a sob as she disappeared through the polished door.

He flung the door open, stepped in and shut it behind him, only to be pinned against it by a growling, claw wielding Laura. Looking over her shoulder he saw that Kitty was curled on her new bed, tears streaming down her now blotchy face. Remorse gripped him for a minute but he shook it off quickly.

"What do you want?" Laura growled.

"I wasn't finished speaking with Kitty," he quipped, trying not to show a weakness in front of her. He wondered how fast he could get to his lighter and if it would have any effect on the claws, other than to make them red hot when they plunged into him.

"Laura, don't hurt him."

Laura turned to look at her quizzically.

"Just get him out of here. Safely. Please?"

Laura nodded and, retracting the claws on one hand, shoved him far enough away from the door so that she could open it. The girl then pushed him out of their room to tumble unceremoniously to the ground.

She gave him one last growl before the door snapped shut.

* * *

Kitty's phone began to ring, loud and annoying in its own right, but mixed with the ring was the vibration setting that rattled her entire head, as the phone was shoved under her pillow.

"Hello?" she answered, trying not to sound upset.

"Hey, Kitten," Pyro drawled from the other end.

"Oh, I don't want to talk to you!" she screeched, hanging up the phone.

It began to ring again. And vibrate. Kitty sighed, she hated her ringer.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Kitten, you wound me…"

She turned the phone off.

"I could still kill him for you," Laura offered.

Kitty sighed, halfway toying with Laura cutting him up just a little.

"You'd get thrown out. And so would I."

"Exactly why am I offering to kill John Allerdyce?" Laura asked, sitting on her bed which was across from Kitty's.

"Because he's an arrogant pig headed jerk? A horrible ass? The worst student in the whole school?"

"There is more to it than that," Laura stated simply, staring soulfully at her roommate.

"No. There isn't," Kitty replied firmly.

"What are you hiding? Friends shouldn't keep secrets."

"What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything," Kitty replied nonchalantly.

"Yes, you are."

"Well, if I am then I'm probably hiding it for a reason!"

"Whatever it is doesn't have to do with John, but he found it out," Laura replied sagely.

"You… are too perceptive for your own good sometimes, Laura Kinney!" Kitty cried before rolling over and burying her face under her pillow.

Laura shrugged. "I was taught to observe people and pick up on hidden nuances in their body language. This was to help me be a more efficient assassin," Laura divulged and Kitty rose up, staring at her friend in shock. Laura had never volunteered information about herself before.

"Assassin?" Kitty gasped.

"Yes."

"Oh…" she floundered, clearly at a loss. "I…I guess I don't really know a lot about your past."

Laura simply stared at her.

"If you ever um…want to talk about anything…"

Laura nodded to show that she had heard the girl before rising without a word and exiting the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Notes: For this one we were supposed to base a scene around this quote, without actually using the quote in the scene - "My mother only ever said two things. She said, 'I don't know, dear.' And she said, 'Can I get you a sandwich, honey?'- Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent. We were also given a picture prompt of a bed with rumpled sheets and told to include the three mental states "bewitched, bothered and bewildered" in another scene.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers! You are all so lovely! Reviews/comments/etc muchly appreciated. :)

* * *

John Allerdyce lounged on the bed in the room that he shared with Bobby Drake, staring idly up at the ceiling and flicking his lighter open and closed.

"So," Iceman started. "Who are you going to ask to the Winter Dance?"

Pyro scoffed, "Winter dance? Only losers go to those."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Everyone that's not going home to family is going to go to the dance. Storm's talking about making it snow inside. All the girls are going wild over it."

"And you're taking Rogue," John mocked.

"Well, yeah, she's my girlfriend," Bobby replied.

"She's a traitor is what she is," John countered.

Bobby glared daggers at his friend and his hands grew cold and coated with ice. "You better watch what you say about Rogue," he warned.

"Why?" Pyro asked cockily. "She is! She took the Cure. Only traitors and cowards would do such a thing. Who would want to be merely human?"

"Her mutation was more like a curse."

"So? Now she's only good for two things."

"Oh, and what would that be?" he asked, voice as icy as his breath normally was.

"Catering to men and keeping her nose out of their affairs."

"What?"

"That's all normal human women are good for. Taking care of people and keeping their heads empty of anything useful."

"Could you get any more chauvinistic?" Bobby scoffed.

"Oh, I'm sure I could if I tried. All she is now is a pretty face," John drawled.

Bobby thrust out his hand and, with a snarl, shot a sheet of ice at Pyro. He quickly rolled off the bed to avoid it and flicked his lighter open, pulling a ball of flame into his hand before launching it at Iceman. Bobby threw himself to the ground and, likewise, John did the same - the two then fired at each other along the ground, sending flames and ice underneath the bed.

Bobby muttered an expletive and leapt to his feet, quickly followed by John who then threw himself across the furniture and tackled Bobby to the ground. They began to grapple, punch and claw at each other, throwing small bursts of power as they could. Had they been paying attention, they would have noticed that they were yelling at each other as they went and thusly soon there were many footsteps outside their door.

"OPEN THIS DOOR! NOW!" they heard a gruff male voice yell. However, instead of obeying, the two boys just continued to roll around the floor pounding each other into a pulp.

"Oh!" a soft voice exclaimed as Kitty Pryde phased through the doorway and took in the chaotic scene before her.

The startled girl quickly solidified herself so that she could, with shaking hands, unlock and open the door, admitting Wolverine into the fray. She stepped back, pressing herself against the wall and watched as Professor Logan pulled John off of Bobby, hurling him back to strike the wall. He hit it so close to her that she phased to prevent him crashing into her. Logan then pulled Bobby up by one arm and halfway drug him over so that he could grasp John's other arm. The irate teacher then hauled them both from the room, muttering darkly as he went about punishment and a special Danger Room session to teach them a thing or two.

"Kitty," the furious man growled over his shoulder, "clean up the fire and ice in there, will you?"

"Yes, Professor," she answered, trying to sound cheerful so as to not incur his wrath.

Sighing, she then proceeded to put out the carpet and bed linens where they still flamed and mop up the mess where the ice had melted all over the place. She went out to the linen closet and got fresh bed linens as well as a few rugs. She tossed the rugs over the worst of the holes in the carpeting and changed both boys beds, taking the burnt linens to the trash before she came back to put the new ones on. She had just finished making the beds so tight that you could bounce a quarter off them, just like her mother had taught her, when John came back through the door.

"What are you doing?" he growled, looking a bit worse for wear with a black eye and a busted, swollen lip.

"Professor Logan asked me to straighten up your room."

"Oh, well you don't need to."

"I'm already done. I changed your bed - they were both ruined. I threw the old linens away; there was no hope for any of them. If you want I can straight up your desk, too."

"No, that's fine," he replied, scowling heavily.

"So, what were you two fighting about?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied in a stern tone.

"Okay…." she replied.

"Look…I'm a jerk sometimes," he said, running his hands through his hair.

"I know that," she said, smiling a bit.

"And according to Bobby I'm a chauvinist," he threw out, rolling his eyes.

"I know that, too."

"And I'm not going to change," he voiced again, almost defensively this time.

"I didn't figure you were," she sighed.

"So…you…um…."

"I'm going to the winter dance with Peter," she said softly, shuffling her feet a bit.

"What? Collossus?"

"Yes, he asked me last week and I said yes. He isn't a jerk or a chauvinist. He's a nice guy and he doesn't follow me around trying to see how many times he can make me cry in one day," she said all in a rush, biting her lip and turning red.

He blinked at her a moment. "I don't see how many times I can make you cry! And who said anything about the winter dance anyway? Only real losers go to stupid school dances."

"Whatever you say, Pyro," she replied, before gliding from the room, leaving him to glare at the spot where she had been.

* * *

Kitty tossed and turned in bed, unable to get her mind to calm down enough for her to actually get to sleep. Whatever he said, she knew that for some reason beyond her grasp John Allerdyce actually was going to invite her to the school dance. She also knew that everything she said about Peter (and everything John said about himself) was true. And that John had made himself vulnerable before her. She also knew that it was probably an act. He just wanted to take her as is date to humiliate her or to further infuriate her or to see if he could top his "how many times can Kitty come unglued in one day" record.

Sighing, she finally gave it up and, pushing the covers off and leaving them in a rumpled heap at the foot of the bed, stormed out of the room. Maybe some time in the library would calm her mind enough to help her sleep.

She slipped silently through the rows of books, breathing in deeply as she went. The silence, near darkness, and presence of so many volumes of knowledge was enough to calm her almost instantly. She made her way to her favorite chair and, once she lit a lamp, she found that John had left her book lying in the seat. She clutched it to her chest, not even having time to open it before she fell into a deep sleep.

The girl blinked awake suddenly to someone shaking her harshly and looked about blearily in the gloom at the aisles and aisles of books.

"What? Where am I?" she asked, utterly bewildered to how she ended up in the library rather than in her bed. Who slept in the library?

Laura just continued to shake her, glowering.

"I'm up, I'm up!" The girl did not let up however and now began poking her repeatedly in the arm.

"Laura, stop bothering me I'm up!"

The girl didn't let up until Kitty pushed her backwards. "Oh, what time is it?" she cried, realizing that the room was suddenly bright with sunlight. "Oh, I'm late! I'm late…oh I'm going to be so behind!" she ran full tilt out of the library, not stopping until she had to phase to avoid running into Rogue.

She stopped dead when she saw her friend. The girl was dancing around in slow circles by herself humming and waving her arms around in the air.

"Rogue?" she asked, extending a hand to touch her covered arm.

Just then John slouched up with a wicked grin on his face and Kitty turned toward him, a scowl already forming on her face.

"The witch got her," he volunteered gleefully.

"What?" Kitty exclaimed, her eyebrows rising.

"The witch got her," he repeated slowly as if speaking to a five year old.

"What witch? There aren't witches!" Kitty screeched.

"Yes, there are. She's bewitching everyone. She got Rogue. She'll get you too if you don't watch out. She won't get me though." And with that John vanished through the wall.

"What…you can't walk through walls! Only I can do that!" Kitty cried, utterly perplexed.

Peter Rasputin rounded the corner at the end of the hall just then and approached them with a stoic expression on his face.

"Peter!" she cried. "Peter, what's going on?"

"Why are you talking to me?" he asked.

"Because we're friends…"

"Friends? Why would I be friends with you?" he asked haughtily.

"We…we talk all the time, and we study together and you asked me to the Winter Dance!"

He laughed cruelly. "Why would I want to take YOU to the Winter Dance? You're nothing but an annoying ugly little super geek. I'm going with Laura, who is a much better catch."

And then he took Laura's hand and the two disappeared down the hall, leaving Kitty staring after them with her mouth gaping open and tears trying to form in her eyes.

Kitty jerked awake for real this time with a small cry and phased right through the chair she had been sleeping in. She pulled herself from it and stood up, looking around nervously. The lamp she had lit was still on and, by looking at the windows she could tell that it was still dark out. Shuddering a bit at the strange dream she'd just had she quickly ran back to her bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Notes: First…sorry for the delay on this chapter! I've been so busy I haven't had time to do anything lately. However, this one is longer than any of the others to make up for it. I hope you enjoy!

The prompts I used for this chapter were - "your character hates to do something - force them into it", start a paragraph with "I wish I could be like [insert super hero name here]", "guilty pleasures" and "I don't go to mythical places with strange men/women."

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

"Miss Pryde, I need to see you after class," Ms. Munroe called as Kitty came through the door of her first class that morning, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"All right," she replied, taking her seat and stifling a yawn. She was nervous all through class but took perfect notes on covalent bonds and other such chemical things. When class was dismissed she stayed behind to see her teacher as she had been ordered to do.

"You needed to see me, Professor?" she asked politely.

"Yes. You are clearly the brightest student in here - you could probably teach this class if you tried."

Kitty blushed.

"However I've noticed that Mr. Allerdyce's grades keep getting lower and lower. I've already spoken with him about this and I would like you to start tutoring him in the library at least twice a week."

"…isn't there anyone else?" she practically begged.

"Is there a problem between the two of you?" Storm asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly a problem…" Kitty replied, shuffling her feet.

"Then you should be able to tutor him."

"But Professor…it's John!"

The woman gave her a stern look. "I would tutor him myself but I don't have the time. I really need you to do this for me. Do you understand?"

She sighed, "Yes, Professor. When would you like me to start?"

"Since it's so close to the end of term you can do one session today and then pick up again when the new term starts."

Kitty sighed, looking particularly crestfallen. "You're sure there's no one else?"

"You are the best candidate for the job. I need you to do this for me and I expect you to give it your all. If he gives you any trouble let me know."

"Yes, Ms. Munroe," she sighed gustily, shuffling dejectedly out the door.

So, several hours later Kitty found herself in the library with John, who was determined to talk about anything but chemistry.

"Why'd you call me Pyro yesterday?"

"So you'll see if this chemical attaches to…" she pressed on, ignoring him.

"You always call me John," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken.

"…this ionic bond…"

"So, you and Peter?" he threw out, trying a different tactic.

"…then it will…"

"Have you ever thought about robbing a bank?"

"JOHN ALLERDYCE WOULD YOU PAY ATTENTION!" she screeched, apparently at her breaking point.

"Miss Pryde! Keep your voice down in the library!" Storm ordered sternly, appearing around a shelf of books.

"But he…"

"Mr. Allerdyce please focus on your chemistry. Do you want to fail the class?"

He merely shrugged.

"I think you've done enough today. I expect to see you both back here next term. And I also expect to see your grades begin to improve, John. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," they both chorused before quickly parting ways.

* * *

"Sometimes I just wish I could be Storm," Kitty said spontaneously to Laura as she lounged on her bed trying to calm down from her attempted tutoring session of John Allerdyce. "I would be so very happy if only I were Storm."

Laura looked at her curiously, or as curiously as Laura ever looked. "Why?" she asked slowly.

"Because! She's just always so calm and collected and she has perfect control over herself and her emotions. If I were Storm I wouldn't lose my temper and scream in the library and get reprimanded for it or cry all the time or let silly bad dreams or John upset me so much. Also, she can just delegate various tasks as she sees fit. She doesn't have to tutor stupid John Allerdyce because she has other people that she can call on to do it for her. And if she did have to tutor him and he got all cheeky with her like he did with me then she could just zap him with a bolt of lightning or drown him in a rain shower or something weather related like that. I can't delegate my tutoring or zap him with a bolt of lightning or drown him or do anything but get him stuck in a piece of furniture. And she's so good with plants - I love flowers and things but anything I touch just dies. Anything I _look at_ dies. I'm horrible at gardening. I have a black thumb, I swear I do!" she exclaimed holding her thumb out for Laura to inspect.

"Your thumb does not appear to be black to me," Laura replied calmly.

"Oh! You know what I mean. People who are good at gardening are said to have green thumbs. I'm horrible at gardening so mine is black. Also," she continued, charging back in on her tirade. "if I were Storm I'd be able to fly the X-Jet."

"Rogue can fly the X-Jet. Perhaps Storm would let you learn as well."

"Oh, you're missing the whole point!"

"You should not pine after things you cannot have. It will only make you unnecessarily dissatisfied with your own life."

Kitty looked at her for a moment, pondering. "If you pined, what would you want?"

Laura shrugged, "I do not pine so I do not know."

"But if you _did_ pine, what would it be for?"

Laura seemed to think this over for several minutes. "My mother," she replied.

"Oh, I didn't know you were homesick."

"I'm not - my mother is dead."

"Oh!" Kitty gasped. "I'm so sorry. Has she been gone long?"

"A while, yes."

"May I ask what happened?"

"I killed her."

Kitty felt the blood drain from her face. "I'm sure it was just…an accident…or…"

"I suppose some would call it an accident but I ran her through. Repeatedly. And then she died," Laura said matter-of-factly, her stoic expression hardening into stone.

Kitty spluttered, quite unsure of what to say or how to act or what to think. Laura began to extend and retract her claws over and over and Kitty tried desperately to think of something to say to break the tension.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Laura," she whispered.

Laura looked up at her, an unreadable expression flowing across her features.

"Do I repulse you now?" Laura asked.

"No, I'm…a bit shocked is all."

"If I pined away over things I do not have, if I regretted every bad thing that I had been forced to do, if I pondered every awful thing…" she shrugged. "I would go mad. I now need to go for a run to clear my mind. Thank you for listening to me."

"Any time," Kitty replied weakly as Laura departed the room.

* * *

Midnight on the last Friday of term (though she supposed it would now be considered Saturday and term officially to be over) found Kitty in the kitchen with a half gallon of Super Fudgy Double Chocolate Chunk ice cream and a spoon. (A _large_ spoon.) She was about a third of the way through it and sighing indulgently.

"Are you going to eat all of that?" a sarcastic toned voice spoke from behind her.

Kitty jumped and spun around, nearly falling off of her stool.

"If you aren't, then it's rude to eat out of the container like that. No one wants to eat after you, Kitten. Of course…if you are…then I don't see how you stay so very thin," John drawled, grabbing a spoon and perching on a stool beside her.

"I don't see how my eating habits would be any concern of yours, Allerdyce."

"Pyro, Allerdyce, you wound me with your coldness, Kitten."

"If this wasn't so good I would throw it at your face," she growled, popping another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She smiled and closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the flavor.

She opened her eyes to find John's spoon swooping towards her treat.

"If you do that I will phase your hand into this countertop!" she hissed vehemently.

The spoon kept coming.

Kitty grabbed his wrist and phased them both, shoving his hand into the countertop before releasing him, thereby turning him solid. She returned to her ice cream as he struggled to free his arm from the unyielding wood. When she grabbed him he had dropped the spoon to clatter to the countertop and he now seized it with his free hand, aiming for the ice cream again - she repeated the process so now both of his hands were trapped.

"That wasn't very nice, Kitten," he growled.

"Neither was attempting to eat my ice cream. Or calling me Kitten."

"So, what is that, like a guilty pleasure of yours?"

"You could call it that. I allow myself one half gallon at the end of each term. I only eat low fat frozen yogurt any other time of the year."

"Interesting. I see why you don't share."

"Exactly!" She gave him a rare grin.

"So, what other guilty pleasures do you allow yourself?" he replied, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"God, you are so revolting. Must you wiggle your eyebrows like that?"

"Like what? This?" he replied, wiggling them again.

"That only makes you look stupid."

"Well eating all that ice cream only makes you look like a pig."

She glared at him. "I assure you I'll be going to work it off as soon as I finish."

"Why bother?"

"I have to fit into my dress."

"What dress?"

"For the dance that you weren't going to ask me to."

"I see. So…when are you going to let me out of here?" he asked, nodding to his trapped appendages.

"When I finish my ice cream. And work this off. And have a nap," she smiled. "That should teach you not to get between a girl and her Super Fudgy Double Chocolate Chunk ice cream."

"You, Kitten, are cruel."

"And you, Mr. Allerdyce, are impossible."

"It's a talent I have," he grinned.

She didn't answer but continued to eat. When she was halfway through the half gallon she got up and retrieved a glass of water. "Want some water?"

"I'd really like some ice cream."

"Why should I give you some?" she asked, sitting down and digging back in.

"Because I'm so good looking."

She snorted. "You'll have to do better than that to get some of MY ice cream."

"Please, Kitten?" he whispered, leaning toward her and giving her a look that would have melted a lesser woman into a puddle on the floor.

Her breath caught a she shook her head as though dazed. "Fine, but don't ever do that again," she huffed, giving him one bite.

"Mm, that's pretty good."

"It's the best," she replied, giving him another bite and before she knew it she had shared the whole rest of the half gallon with him, both of them eating off the same spoon as his hands were still trapped.

"See, Kitten? We can get along just fine," he smirked.

She sighed and phased, pulling his hands from the counter.

"I bet you wouldn't let that big Russian eat your ice cream off your spoon."

Blushing, Kitty phased through the wall without commenting and aimed herself toward the downstairs gym.

She passed the rec room to hear - "I don't go to mythical places with strange men!"

"Good lord," she muttered, "what is that boy watching?"

Before she could make up her mind whether or not to go investigate she heard the unmistakable sound of Blink changing the television channel.

"Where are you running off to so quickly, Kitten?" John asked and Kitty sighed, regretting her decision to pause in the hallway.

"Why can't you just leave me alone for five minutes?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"What would the fun in that be?" he asked, grinning at her.

"It would be a lot of fun for me!" she replied, making her way down downstairs with him trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

Once they reached the gym Kitty got on the treadmill and started out at a slow jog to warm up. She was not surprised at all when John took the machine beside her and began to jog as well. He set his pace to match hers and each time he did she raised it until soon they were both running flat out.

"Since when did this turn into a race, Kitten?" he asked, not even breathing hard.

"I wasn't aware it had. I always push myself this hard," she replied, equally non-stressed.

She increased the speed again and again until she was going as fast as she could so that the machine wouldn't throw her off - John matched her.

"Having fun?" he asked, panting a bit now.

"Extreme amounts of it," she gasped.

"I'm surprised you aren't puking after all that you ate," he threw out as casually as he could while gasping for breath.

"I'm surprised you can keep up with me," she countered, turning the speed up yet again.

"You're going to hurt yourself," he cautioned, turning his speed up as well.

She shrugged awkwardly. "I won't be the only one that does."

"If you're hurt how are you going to dance?"

"Very carefully," she quipped.

Finally, when she thought that her legs were going to fly off and her lungs would explode, she began to slow the pace. John did likewise. Once they had done a proper cool down Kitty went over to the water fountain, taking a generous drink before grabbing a towel off the shelf and dropping gracefully to the ground. She wiped the sweat off her face and neck, lounging back against the wall where John joined her after a moment.

She counted slowly to three hundred and then rose to her feet, making her way over to the hand weights.

"You're doing more?" John asked.

"Of course. Ten sets of curls, ten sets pushing weights over my head, ten sets of stretching to each side. Some leg stretches with resistance bands then one hundred sit ups, one hundred push-ups, and 45 minutes of working out on the punching bag," she rattled off quickly.

"How often do you do that?" John asked, looking a bit shell shocked.

"I complete all of that once a week. However, I come down to work out for at least thirty minutes every day," Kitty replied cheerfully.

"I never would have guessed, Kitten," he panted.

"I have to stay in shape for the danger room," she replied, beginning on her curls with ten pound hand weights.

John drug to his feet and began to do curls with a fifteen pound weight.

"How often do you work out?" she asked.

"Two, maybe three times a week. Never as hard as you have planned for today though," he replied.

"Your mutation doesn't center on you running in to get people out," she replied sagely.

"True," he answered.

She moved to her different weight sets and then started on the resistance bands with her legs. John kept up until she started on the one hundred push-ups - he fell flat on his back on the ground at number sixty-seven.

"Done, Pyro?" she asked sweetly.

For once, he was silent.

She rolled onto her stomach and gasped when she realized that he was now sitting perilously close to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Resting," he replied, his voice sounding much more normal rather than strained for oxygen.

"Well you could rest farther away," she replied testily as she started in on her push-ups.

"But the view here is so nice," he replied, running his eyes down the length of her body.

"Pervert," she muttered.

He gave her the all too familiar lecherous grin, accompanied by the eyebrow wiggle that she was growing to find hilarious.

She finished her push-ups and rested on her stomach for a moment, panting slightly. She wiped her face with the towel before rising to her knees, only to find John right in front of her, mirroring her pose.

"What are you doing?" she asked again, her voice soft.

"This," he whispered, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him. He pressed his lips softly to hers, running one hand up her back to tangle in the damp hair at the back of her neck. She moaned softly, leaning into him and returning the kiss, opening her mouth when the tip of his tongue slipped along her lower lip. He deepened the kiss and Kitty's hands wound around his neck, pressing herself even tighter against him. The kiss slowed after a few moments and John pulled back from her, trailing one hand down her spine.

Kitty blinked up at John with a dazed expression on her face and she murmured, "_Wow_" before she could stop herself.

John gave her another grin, this one not the lecherous one that he normally gave, nor the sarcastic one that was his most popular. It was new and different and somehow just for her. He rose to his feet and left, leaving Kitty speechless and kneeling on the ground staring after him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Notes: Prompts for this time were to include the following items: rubber duck, mosquito, peanut butter, mini rant, razor blade and Mr. Nibbles (whose identity is entirely up to the author.)

Thanks so much to Kyroxisxsmexy and LoveAroundEmbers for the reviews!

* * *

Kitty tossed and turned in bed, unable to get John out of her head. She kept remembering the way he kissed her, the feel of his hand skimming down her back. She couldn't figure out what he meant by it, surely he couldn't like her… Sighing, she punched her flattened pillow and slammed her head back down on it, flattening it once more. Finally she decided to go talk to him. Pulling a robe on and shoving her feet into slippers she phased through the door and made her way silently down the hall.

She went to his old room by habit, forgetting that the Professor had moved him to his own room after the fight with Bobby. Once she remembered that she backtracked to the last door on the left in the boy's wing and without even thinking about it phased through the door.

Once she was inside the girl realized she probably should have knocked first, but it was too late now, she supposed. John was lying flat on his back and was sound asleep - she blushed when she realized he was wearing only a pair of lounge pants. The room was lit by the bedside lamp and a book was open on the bed beside him. She moved toward him as though compelled by outside forces, but once she was close to him she didn't know what to do.

Kitty marked his place in the book by folding down a corner and closed it, placing it on the nightstand before pulling the blanket from the foot of the bed up over him. When it touched him he shifted a bit, muttering in his sleep and she froze - suddenly terrified that he would wake up and find her standing over him. Once he settled down she breathed a sigh of relief. She then reached to turn off the bedside light, forgetting how loud the clicking sound could be in the silence.

John woke with a gasp and, before he could find her out, Kitty threw herself through the wall and into the highway.

* * *

Kitty was lounging in the library following day enjoying the silence that pervaded now that term was over and about a third of the students had gone home for the holidays. Of the two-thirds that were left about half were out on the grounds while the other half were mostly lounging in their rooms or in the rec room. Most people avoided the library like the plague once classes were on a hiatus. Kitty's solitude was broken by Rogue who burst through the door giggling madly with Bobby and Jubilee in tow.

"Kitty!" Rogue cried. "Do you know where we could find a…" She consulted a piece of paper clutched in her hand. "Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders?"

"Um…four aisles over to the left and two back by that portrait of Xavier's mother. It'll be closest to the wall on the top shelf."

"Go, Bobby!"

He took off like a shot in the direction that Kitty had revealed.

"And what about Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton?"

"It'll be six aisles to your right, half a row down, bottom shelf."

"Go, Jubilee!"

She took off even faster.

"Um, Rogue…why are you hunting books?"

"It's the big winter scavenger hunt! Storm announced it at dinner a few nights ago. We split into teams and we're hunting for all the things on this list. Some are easier than others. Like…we've got the peanut butter because Jubilee feeds that to Mr. Nibbles."

"Mr. Nibbles?"

"You know! Her hamster that she keeps hidden in that big cage in the bottom of her closet."

"Oh, yes…"

"And we got the rubber duck from Boom Boom and we managed to find a razor blade in the junk drawer in the laundry room," Rogue rattled off.

"What have you got left?"

"Just the books and a pink shoe."

"There are pink shoes in the tote under my bed, you can get one of those," Kitty offered.

"Okay, thanks Kit!" Rogue said. Just then the other two came back and they all ran back out the door.

Kitty settled down to read again but this time she was interrupted by a stinging sensation on her arm. She looked down to see a mosquito biting her and quickly smacked it.

"Hey, Kitten," she heard a voice whisper from behind her.

"Um, hi," she replied, blushing a bit as she turned to look at John, remembering the last two times she had seen him.

He swiped her book and glanced at it. "You aren't done with Les Miserable yet?"

"No, I keep getting interrupted while trying to read it."

"Who would do such a thing?" he asked sweetly.

"You! So…um…about last night…"

"What about it? You sticking me in the table? Or trying to kill yourself on the treadmill?"

She breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't mention her unauthorized jaunt through his walls.

"I was referring to you kissing me," she whispered.

"Oh, that. That was nothing."

"Nothing? You, John Allerdyce, are utterly and completely impossible! You send totally mixed signals all the time. You're an annoying, arrogant, cocky jerk who thinks that this is all just a big joke! You follow me around just trying to find things to annoy me with. One minute you're all nice and the next you're pushing all my buttons and then we're actually having a good conversation and then you're kissing me and then you're saying it was nothing at all and acting like it never happened. What is with you? Because I just don't understand any of it!" she ranted all in a rush.

"Well, well, the kitten's a bit miffed."

"Miffed? I'll show you miffed!" she said and then she slapped him.

John took a step back and assumed what she recognized as a fighter's stance, rage twisting his features into an ugly scowl. She heard the unmistakable click of his lighter opening and then he held a ball of flame in his right hand.

Kitty's hand flew to her mouth in astonishment at what she had just done. "Oh…John…I'm sorry."

He threw the ball of fire at her.

With a squeak she phased and it went straight through her, hitting the wall behind. With one motion of his hand he extinguished the flames before they could spread.

"I don't know what I've been playing at," he hissed. "Clearly, I've lost my touch. I'm tired of playing the nice guy, Kitten. I've been _too_ nice to you; clearly, if you felt like you could slap me and get away with it."

"John…"

"Oh, it's John now. Instead of Pyro but now I am Pyro rather than John. I'm tired of being what you want me to be, Kitten."

"I never wanted you to be anything!" she cried in an exasperated tone.

"But you did think I would be something. You had expectations, desires. Well, guess what, you were wrong, Kitten."

"I…I didn't think anything, John. I took you as you were."

"You thought I would never do this," he replied throwing another ball of fire at her.

She phased, the shock being replaced with sorrow now. John once again extinguished the missile before it did more than singe a chair.

"You know it'll never touch me. I don't know why you're doing this, if it's to scare me or intimidate me or just to amuse yourself, but you can't hurt me," she told him softly."

"Not physically. Not like that. But there are other ways if I wanted to."

He advanced on her, but for some reason that neither of them understood, she refused to phase. The closer he pressed the more she inched backwards until the end of the row of bookshelves was pressing into her back and it was either phase or be pressed to him. Some dark part of her was curious - what was he doing? How far would he take this…whatever it was? He progressed until there was only an inch of space between them and he placed one hand on either side of her head, trapping her there, unless she phased.

"Do you ever have nightmares, Kitten?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she whispered, completely entranced by him.

"Are they screaming in the walls? Are they begging you to get them out before they suffocate?"

The blood drained from her face. "Yes."

"Are you trapped with them? Trapped in your sin? Unable to use your mutation and escape it? Are you cured?"

"Yes," she gasped, tears shining in her eyes now.

"Do you writhe and twist and fight and scream to get out? Do you feel light headed and as if the very fibers of the walls are closing in on you? Do you beg for death for you and all of them just to end the mind numbing terror?"

The tears ran down her face.

"Or are you unable to move, to speak, to do anything that might save yourself. Can you hear people on the other side of the walls, enjoying themselves without you? Do you know without a doubt that you're going to die? Do you listen for your heartbeat and wait for the utter and complete silence when it stops?"

"Stop it, please," she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

"Do you wake in a cold sweat at night and thank God that you're the one with the mutation? That you got out?"

"Yes, that I got out. That I came here. That I escaped," she murmured from behind her hands, shoulders still shaking.

"You're talking about more than just that wall," he stated pointedly.

"The second time I phased it was a relief," she moaned. "I didn't care if I got stuck in the wall. I was so frightened I didn't care if I died as long as I got away."

"What were you running from?"

"No, no," she moaned, shaking her head.

John took a step back and the girl sank to the ground in a tangled heap, curling in on herself. Satisfied and feeling more than a little sick at what he had done, John slipped silently from the room. He could still hear her cries echoing in his ears as he walked down the hall.


	8. Chapter 8

Notes: Prompt this time was take your character out somewhere.

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

Please see additional A/N at the bottom.

* * *

Peter Rasputin was making his way to the kitchen for a snack when he heard the sound of someone sobbing coming from a classroom. He poked his head and for a moment thought that the room was empty, but then he saw a small form curled up under the teacher's desk. He stepped in the room, squinting in the dimness as the only light was the weak winter sunshine coming in from the windows on the far wall. The closer to the desk he got the more familiar the figure looked until he realized that it was Kitty.

"Kitty?" he asked kindly.

Her head whipped up and she looked at him fearfully, face blotchy and wet from tears.

"Kitty, what's wrong?" he asked, approaching the desk and kneeling down to peer under it.

She shook her head.

"Are you hurt?"

She opened her mouth to answer but instead of words she simply sobbed. "Not like that," she choked out.

"Come out here where I can see if you're all right," Peter voiced, reaching for her.

She phased and his hand passed right through her.

"I'm just….please just leave me alone."

"What happened? Either tell me or I'm going to get Storm and Wolverine."

"It was nothing."

"I've never seen you upset like this. It certainly was not nothing."

She phased through the desk and rose shakily to her feet.

"I can't talk about this with you."

"Was it John?"

She stilled.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, it was nothing, please just let it go!" Kitty looked around wild eyed. "I can't stay here. I need to get out of here." She turned and ran right through the wall.

Peter followed her as best as he could, finally catching up to her halfway down the driveway of the school.

"Would you wait just a second, Katherine?" he asked exasperatedly.

She turned to him looking pitiful with her hair a mess and her face blotchy and wet. She clutched her arms around herself, shivering violently, and as Peter took stock of her he realized she was only wearing jogging pants, a long sleeve t-shirt and sandals.

"You're not even wearing a coat. Why don't you go upstairs and change into proper clothes, then we'll take a car and go into town. How's that sound?"

"I want a shower," she sniffled.

"All right. May I wrap my arm around you?" he asked softly.

She nodded, still sniffling pitifully, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her back inside. She let him lead her to the elevator and all the way to her room. When they got to her door she opened it to find that Laura was out.

"Would…would you like to come in a minute?" she asked so quietly that he barely heard her.

"That would be nice," he answered, dropping his arm from her waist as they went through the door.

Once they were inside she closed the door and wiped her face on her T-shirt.

"Wow, I bet I'm attractive," she tried to say lightly to break the tension but it fell flat.

"I think you're beautiful," he replied, reaching one hand out slowly to brush some strands of hair back off her face.

She blushed and took a step toward him.

"May I hold you?" he asked.

"Please," she replied.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him and Kitty buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around behind him. She began to sob again and he stroked her hair and rocked them from side to side in an effort to comfort her.

"He brought up a lot of painful memories. He used something I told him the other day against me. He used things he only guessed about but he was right. And he brought up things he had no clue about and I can't get any of it out of my head."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yes, he did. He was getting back at me."

"For what?"

"I slapped him."

"He probably deserved it."

"He did."

"But you didn't deserve him doing that to you."

"You're so nice," she hiccupped, pulling away from him and he let her go. "Oh…oh I got your shirt all wet."

"It's no problem. Now why don't you take that shower and put on some proper clothes, I'll go change shirts and then we'll go out and do something?"

"Okay," she replied. "I'll meet you in the garage in half an hour?"

"Sounds good," he replied, exiting her room.

* * *

Closer to an hour later Kitty was bathed, properly bundled in gray slacks with heavy stockings underneath, dressy boots and a dressy cowl neck sweater in her favorite shade of cranberry and felt much better. She'd even taken the time to fix her hair and put on a bit of makeup to cover up her puffy eyes. Peter had on a dry sweater in a deep shade of gray and khaki slacks and they were in a car and speeding towards town.

"So, where do you want to go?"

She shrugged. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Okay, so a restaurant. After that I know a nice little coffee shop that has great desserts."

"First…could we go to the mall?" she asked hopefully.

"Um, sure. Do you want to go there first?"

"Yes, please."

They were silent for the rest of the ride and, sooner than Colossus might have liked, they were at the mall.

There first stop was the bookstore, where Kitty kept him hopping as she ran up one aisle and down the other looking at a myriad of different books. She went from teen fiction to normal fiction to historical fiction to romance to cooking to self help to religion to science to magazines in a matter of minutes, and then went back through all of it again.

"Oh, this one looks so nice…but so does this one… Oh! Stationary!"

She then launched herself toward the front of the store to look at pens and pencils, cards and bookmarks, paper sets and photo albums, journals and scrapbooks.

"Oh, I just love bookstores," she gushed, looking up at him with bright eyes.

"Would you like something?"

"Oh, no, I just have enough money for dinner."

"I was planning on paying for you."

"Oh!" she blushed. "Is this..um…uh…"

"Like a date?"

"Yes," she whispered, looking at her feet.

"I would like it to be, yes."

"All right then," she replied. "Our first date," she whispered with a smile.

"If you want a book or something I'll buy it for you."

"No, that's okay. Are you sure you want to pay for my dinner, and my coffee and my dessert?"

"Yes, I wouldn't have brought you out here if I didn't have the money."

"Okay then, I think I'll by myself something."

They circled the store three more times before Kitty settled on a pretty pink paisley journal and matching pen.

Peter carried the bag for her and was very patient as they went through two shoe stores, three clothing stores and a specialty candy shop.

"Gosh, I'm hungry," Kitty voiced as she munched on a chocolate covered espresso bean.

"Well, whenever you get done we can go eat."

"Where do you want to go?" she asked, swallowing the bean and popping a chocolate covered dried cherry piece into her mouth from where she'd bought a small variety bag.

"I know a nice little Italian place if you're up for it."

"That sounds great!"

They made their way out of the mall and drove across town to a fancy looking brick building. Peter ushered her in through the door and she whistled softly. The room was lit by chandeliers and flickering lamps on the walls. The tables were all draped in crisp white linens and plated with beautiful china in a swirly cream on cream pattern with delicate wine glasses and gracefully adorned silverware. All around there were couples or small groups chatting, laughing, eating and drinking. Kitty was immensely glad that she had thought to dress up a bit before leaving the mansion.

"How many, sir?" an elegantly dressed hostess asked.

"Two," he replied, placing a hand on the small of Kitty's back and guiding her through the restaurant as they followed the hostess.

They sat down and a moment later a waitress approached them.

"Can I get you started with something to drink?"

"I'll have tea, please," Kitty replied.

"The same," Peter answered.

"This place is really nice, Peter," she voiced after the waitress has bustled off.

"I've wanted to bring you here for a while."

"Really?"

"Yes. I just…didn't know how to ask."

"So you wait until I have a meltdown and practically give myself frostbite in my efforts to get out of the school for a few hours."

"Well…it worked," he grinned.

"Thanks for letting me drag you all over the mall."

"It was…fun in a way. Would you like to get an appetizer?"

"No, I'll just eat the salad and bread."

The waitress returned with a smile on her face, "Here are your drinks, would you like an appetizer?"

"No, thank you," Peter replied.

"Are you ready to order?"

Kitty shook her head frantically, causing Peter to reply, "I think we need a few more minutes."

"Okay, then, I'll be back soon."

"What do you think you'll have?" Peter asked.

"I'm still deciding," Kitty answered. "What about you?"

"Hm….I think I'll go for the steak tips Portobello."

"The asiago rosemary chicken looks good. I'll probably change my mind when she gets here, though. I always do."

Peter chuckled, closing his menu. Kitty did likewise and the waitress approached.

"Have you both decided?"

"Yes, Kitty?" Peter offered.

"You order first!"

"All right. I'll have the steak tips Portobello, cooked medium."

"All right, and for you, miss?"

"I'll have the chicken Florentine, please."

"All right, we'll have those up for you shortly," the waitress said. "I'll be right back with salad and bread sticks."

Peter chuckled. "I see you did change your mind."

"I do that a lot when I'm in restaurants. Not that I go out much. This is actually the first time I've been out since…" she paused to think and began counting on her fingers. "Last summer at the end of term Rogue, Laura, Jubilee and I went to a little coffee shop for lunch to celebrate."

"Wow, I'll have to take you out more often."

"That would be nice," she said, smiling softly at him.

"So…are you excited about the dance?" he asked.

"Oh, yes!" she replied, smiling broadly now. "I've already got my dress and shoes and everything. Rogue's going to do my hair and makeup. Oh, and guess who we've talked into going?" she asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Who?" he inquired warily.

"Laura!" she crowed delightfully. "Rogue's going to do her hair and makeup too and I had a spare dress and shoes that she could borrow."

"Is she going with anyone or alone?"

"Alone, though I plan to secretly badger people to dance with her. Most people avoid her because she's a bit…intimidating at first. Would you dance one dance with her? Please!"

Peter laughed a bit. "All right, as long as you promise she won't run me through."

"Rogue and I have been giving her lectures on social manners and grace in public."

"That's good."

"She's had a hard time of it," Kitty replied softly.

Just then the waitress arrived with their salad and bread. Peter served her and then himself and they began to eat with gusto.

"Oh! This is so good," Kitty replied, jamming a breadstick in her mouth. "And the salad!" she gushed after chewing and swallowing her breadstick and taking a bit of the leafy pile in front of her.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"Oh, I am, very much so. We are so going to have to cook some Italian back at school."

"It won't be as good as this," Peter replied.

"Oh, I'm sure but I forgot how much I love Italian food."

The conversation quieted as Kitty and Peter continued eating their salad and bread and a few minutes after they were done the waitress approached with their meal.

"Here you go ma'am, sir," she said politely, placing the meals in front of them. "Would you like some freshly grated cheese?" They both accepted and after adorning their pastas with the cheese and refilling their drinks she departed.

Kitty popped one bit of chicken in her mouth and closed her eyes, making appreciative sounds as she chewed. "Oh, this is wonderful," she exclaimed.

Once again there was silence at their table as they ate, but it was comfortable and companionable, rather than strained.

When they were done Peter paid the bill and they left the restaurant.

"The coffee shop is just a short walk, if you don't mind?" Peter asked.

"No, not at all."

Arm in arm they made their way three blocks south and one block east until they reached a small yet classy looking coffee shop.

"Oh..my…would you look at that dessert counter!" Kitty squealed.

Peter grinned and trailed her to the counter where she ordered a mocha and he ordered a caramel latte.

"Would you like to share a piece, Peter?"

"Sure, pick whatever you like."

She then ordered a piece of Heavenly Six Layer Chocolate Cake and, once their drinks were brought up they took their dessert and drinks and made their way to a small table in the back.

"I don't know which was better, the dinner or the dessert," Kitty replied before taking a sip of her mocha. "Or the coffee. You sure do know to show a girl a good time," she grinned.

"I'm glad you think so," he replied softly, reaching one hand across the table.

She smiled back at him and took his hand.

"I…I really care about you, Kitten," he whispered.

She flinched, pulling her hand away as if she'd been burned and her face fell. "Don't call me that," she said tersely.

"Oh! Um…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

She smiled weakly, placing her hand back in his. "It's just…"she worried her lip between her teeth. "I don't like that nickname, all right?"

"All right, I'll just settle for calling you Katherine."

"Katherine sounds good."

They ate in silence for a few minutes and Kitty finally, regretfully, put down her fork and focused on drinking her coffee.

"Would you like to take the rest of the cake home? They'll give us a box."

"That would be lovely."

He got a box and they put the cake in it and made their way back down the street, arm in arm, to the car. The drive back was nice, with Kitty clutching the cake in her lap and holding Peter's hand.

Once they were back in the garage he walked her up to her room.

"You can keep the cake."

"Thanks! Would you like to come in?"

"I would, but it's late and I don't want to disturb your roommate."

"Yeah…Laura does get a bit tetchy if people she doesn't know very well bother her."

"I _think that would be an understatement. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."_

"_Okay. I had a really nice time, Peter."_

"_I'm glad," he responded, leaning down and brushing his lips quickly against hers. "Good night, Katherine."_

"_Good night, Peter."_

* * *

Note the Second - This is still a Kyro, I promise! We shall see more Kitty/Pyro action starting back up in the next chapter. Kitty needed this chapter, she really really did.


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: Prompt this time was loss. Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! And apologies for the long wait for this one - life got in the way.

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

After Peter left Kitty decided she was thirsty and so made her way downstairs for some water. As she was passing the library John came waltzing out of the elegant double doors and so she stopped, holding very still and hoping that, maybe, he wouldn't notice her.

"Hey, Kitten," he called, coming toward her.

She decided to continue walking.

He trailed her all the way to the kitchen and back. Finally, she reached her room and when she phased through the door he opened it and came right in.

"What are you doing?" she asked, tossing the bottle of water on the bed beside the cake and turning to face him.

"Talking to you," he whispered, moving closer to her.

"I don't want you to talk to me. You've done nothing but antagonize me, torture me…"

"Torture? Kitten, you exaggerate," he murmured, brushing some strands of hair off her face.

She shuddered. "Don't touch me."

"It's not like I can," he retorted bitterly as she phased so that his hand went straight through her.

"What do you want from me?" she pleaded, staring deep into his eyes.

"Everything," he replied, gazing back and taking a step closer to her. She stepped back until the bed bumped against her legs.

"How can I give everything to someone who gives me nothing in return?" she asked, a bit of sadness touching her features.

"I can't take you out to fancy places like the Russian."

"I didn't mean material things. Give me something of yourself."

"I can't."

"You won't," she insisted.

He shrugged. "Believe what you will, Kitten."

"Am I asking so much of you?"

"I could counter that with the same question," he quipped, grabbing for her again.

This time she phased through the bed. "I said don't touch me!"

"Since when do I listen?" he sneered.

She paused. "You must listen in class; you make good grades in most things."

"Yet that's all I hear. You never listen, John. You're insensitive, John. All you do is antagonize and hurt people, John. You'll never be as good as they are, John," he spouted off in a falsetto tone.

Kitty gaped at him. "If I ever insinuated those things to you I'm so sorry."

"You and everyone else," he retorted. "Don't know why I even bother staying at this damn place."

With that he turned and stormed from the room.

"John, wait!" she called. But he refused to obey her and stalked off down the hall with Kitty chasing him as best as she could.

He took a shortcut through some classrooms as they hit the second floor and she popped out of the wall just in front of him, inadvertently passing through an irate looking Wolverine. As soon as she came out the other side Kitty solidified and collapsed to her hands and knees.

"Kitty?" she heard someone ask, but she couldn't get her mind straightened out enough to answer. She felt hands on her, but she hurt all over and she couldn't remember how to phase.

"What is going on here?" Wolverine growled at John, who merely shrugged.

Professor Logan growled and John shrugged again. "We were talking, I ended the conversation by walking away, she followed me. You saw the rest."

Logan knelt beside the girl. "Kitty, can you hear me?"

There was no response.

"What's wrong with her?" John asked.

"Phasing through adamantium is dangerous. In small quantities it is merely painful, but in large quantities it causes her more pain and makes her extremely disoriented."

"How do you fix it?"

"You can't. It'll pass with time. Put her in her room and stay with her until Laura gets back. I would do it but I have some troublemakers to deal with."

John rolled her over and hissed when he got a good look at her. "Her face…"

"It's from the adamantium. Now do as you're told," he growled before stalking off.

John gently lifted her and carried her upstairs to her room so that he could lay her on her bed. She was largely unresponsive but all of the skin that he could see, which admittedly wasn't much, was covered in large red welts.

Kitty blinked her eyes slowly, lolling her head over to gaze up at John. "Shouldn't have to phase in my own room," she mumbled.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Don't know…it's all fuzzy. Should've watched where I was going…"

A snicket announced Laura's presence and John stilled as he felt the girl's claws pressing against his neck.

"Back. Away," she growled.

John did as he was told.

"What did you do?"

"She accidentally phased through Wolverine - he told me to stay with her until you got here."

The claws retracted.

"I am here. Get out."

"She needs ice. It helped when she phased through you."

"Then go get it."

John disappeared only to return a few minutes later with several bags of ice and some small towels. Laura took them from him at the doorway before closing the door firmly and locking it.

The girl appeared to be either asleep or passed out, so Laura wrapped the ice in towels and placed the strategically on the girls' body. She then sat on her bed, claws out and ready in case of intruders, waiting for Kitty to wake up.

* * *

Kitty woke groggily early the next morning and sat up, wincing at the pain in her whole body, and noticed that Laura was sitting stiffly, claws out, staring at her. The next thing she noticed was little bags of water wrapped in towels seemed to be lying on her. She also realized that she was still dressed in her clothes from the night before.

"Laura?"

"You look moderately better."

She glanced in the mirror over the dresser and realized that her skin still bore red welts. She stretched, still feeling much of the residual soreness and tried to wrap her head around what had happened.

"I phased through Wolverine…" she said slowly. "I hate when I pass through adamantium like that. I lose my ability to think or phase or even move on my own. I don't remember what happened after I hit the ground."

"John carried you in here and waited until I returned upon orders of the Wolverine. I then made him leave. He retrieved ice for you, but I did not let him help me put it on you."

"Oh… Well, thank you, Laura."

There was silence for a few moments until it was punctuated by the growl of Kitty's stomach.

"I'm really hungry. Do you know where my cake is?"

"Cake?"

"Yes, I had some leftover cake from my date with Colossus."

"Date?" she inquired.

"Yes, last night, we had a date and we shared cake but we didn't eat all of it so I brought it home. But…" she seemed to think very hard. "I can't remember what I did with it after that."

"When was the last time you definitely remember having it?"

Kitty thought some more.

"I had it in my lap in the car, and I'm almost positive I had it when we came inside…"

"Did you bring it up here?"

"I don't know. My heads all fuzzy…"

Kitty looked on the bed, then to either side, and finally she crawled under it. No cake.

"Help me look?"

Laura sheathed her claws and did as Kitty asked, looking under and around her own bed first. They searched the whole room from one end to the other, even looking in the closet, dresser drawers and desk drawers, but there was no cake.

"Well it couldn't have just vanished!" Kitty exclaimed. "I'm going to the kitchen to look for it.

"I will come with you," Laura replied.

The two girls made their way downstairs where they both proceeded to look the kitchen over. But the cake wasn't on the table, or any of the counters. Likewise it was not to be found in the breakfast nook, on the floor, or in any of the cabinets. Neither was it in the refrigerator, freezer, microwave or dishwasher.

Kitty was beginning to get angry. "It's a CRIME to steal a girl's chocolate!" she huffed. "Really, it couldn't have just grown legs and walked away."

They even searched the garbage to see if anyone had eaten it and thrown away the box but there was no luck there either.

"Let's go check the car, Laura!"

And so they did, looking in the seats, under the seats and even in the trunk. Finally, in desperation, Kitty got on her hands and knees and looked under the car. No cake.

"Maybe Colossus took it back?" Laura inquired. "He did purchase it."

"Oo, that's a good idea! Let's go ask him."

Kitty led the mini parade back up to the dormitories in her mad hunt for her lost chocolate.

She knocked on the door, only to have it opened a moment later.

"Katherine!" he greeted her warmly with a smile that quickly faded once he got a glimpse of her face. "What happened to you?" he inquired, clearly appalled and concerned.

"I phased through Wolverine. It looks worse than it is. Listen…did you take the cake last night?"

"The cake?"

"The Heavenly Six Layer Chocolate Cake with chocolate icing that we got at the coffee shop! We only ate half of it and I brought it back and I know I had it in the car and I think I had it when we came in and I can't find it anywhere! I. Need. That. Chocolate. Now. Did you take it? Did you?" she asked, growing more hysterical with each word.

He took a small step back, eyes wide, as he had clearly never been between a girl and her chocolate before. But he knew well enough to know that he was in dangerous territory.

"No, I didn't take it."

"It's GONE. Vanished. Loss. Desecrated. Destroyed. The WORLD IS COMING TO AN END," she ranted, clearly quite deranged.

Peter attributed it to her recent run in with copious amounts of adamantium and decided the best approach was a calm, level headed one.

"Where all have you looked?" he asked in a soothing tone.

"Everywhere! We turned our room upside down. We looked all over the kitchen. In the trash. We even looked in the car and the garage! It is utterly and completely LOST.

"Well…I didn't take it… if you want I could go back when they open at eleven and get you another piece…"

"No! I need that piece! Chocolate cake doesn't just wander off!" she cried, turning and storming down the hall.

"It does not have legs," Laura replied sagely before following her friend.

When the girls arrived back in their room Kitty found a note lying on her bed.

_Thanks for the cake, Kitten._

"Oooo, I'm going to KILL John Allerdyce!" she screeched. After a moment she amended, "Just after I take a nap."


	10. Chapter 10

Notes: And we have some more of Laura's history, yay! Prompts this time were to include nostalgia and the quote "I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like 'em myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over 'em on long winter evenings." Thanks for the reviews, guys!

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

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Kitty Pryde was woken from her delightfully refreshing nap that afternoon by series of loud knocks on her door. She rose to her feet slowly, still wincing at some residual pain in her muscles even though she felt largely better. She looked down at her hands to see that the welts had faded quite a bit and she hoped to be feeling one hundred percent by the following day.

"Who is it?" she called out, tugging her t-shirt down and trying to smooth her hair out a bit.

"It's Peter."

She opened the door after a moment's hesitation - she really just wanted to crawl back into bed - and pasted a smile on her face for the sake of propriety. It quickly turned to a real smile when she realized that in his hands was a very familiar pale pink bakery box.

"You didn't!" she breathed.

"Your very own piece of Heavenly Six Layer Chocolate Cake," he replied, giving her a grin. "And if you want I'll stay while you eat it to make sure it doesn't wander off."

She scowled. "John ate it."

"What?"

"My piece from last night. It didn't wander off - John Allerdyce saw fit to steal and eat it."

"How do you know?" he asked reasonably.

She reached over and snatched the scrap of paper from her night stand before shoving it at him.

"I see," he replied stoically, returning the paper to the night stand.

"Well, here you go," he said, handing her the box. He reached into the hall and came up with a napkin, a fork, and a cup of coffee. "I also got you another mocha. I do hope you enjoy it."

"Please, would you stay?"

He smiled softly, "I'd love to."

She turned a brighter light on and ushered him in, shutting the door behind him. "Um…excuse the mess…" she muttered weakly, trying to shove some stray things under her bed and smooth the rumpled covers on top of which she had been sleeping.

"It's fine," he shrugged. "My room's been worse, trust me."

She gave him a look that was indecipherable, intimate and too heavy for the light conversation they had been having only a moment before.

"I do trust you," she whispered.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence Kitty perched on the bed and gestured for him to sit down on it as well.

"Why'd you go all stoic after seeing the note?" she asked, sitting the coffee carefully on the nightstand before placing the bakery box on the bed between them and opening it up.

"I realized the reason you dislike the nickname Kitten."

"Oh."

Kitty delicately took up a bite on her fork and popped it into her mouth, savoring it appreciatively. Peter ripped off a chunk and gobbled it up rather noisily.

"Urgh!" she exclaimed without really thinking about it.

"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like 'em myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over 'em on long winter evenings."

"The Big Sleep!" she crowed, pointing at him with her fork.

"You like Humphrey Bogart movies?" he asked.

"Yes!"

Their conversation was interrupted when Laura burst through the door, looking mutinous, claws on both hands and both feet fully extended, to the woe of her shoes.

"Laura?" Kitty asked in a soothing voice. Peter sat very, very still.

"The Wolverine will not let me teach John a lesson. He said that Storm would frown upon my methods. He also walked John back to his room and told me I am not to break into it. He spoke of guards and expulsion."

Kitty handed the cake to Peter and got off the bed, approaching Laura and placing a hand on each of her upper arms.

"Laura, calm down."

The girl stared at her mutinously.

"Why do you want to teach John a lesson?"

"He stole your cake. Theft is not tolerated."

"Put away the claws and come have some cake," she continued, voice soft and even and of the type reserved for homicidal maniacs or people on the verge of jumping off of bridges. "You don't need to teach Allerdyce a lesson. Peter brought some more cake, so it's okay."

"But he hurts you," she replied, clearly perplexed.

"People hurt people. It's okay."

"When I hurt people it is not okay."

"When you hurt people they tend to bleed a lot and come close to dying," she said kindly. "Emotional hurt…that's much more common and more widely accepted. It's not nice, but it happens. Mostly it's an accident."

"He does not hurt you accidentally. He must pay."

"Hush now. You need to focus on not breaking the rules and getting kicked out. Then who would be my roommate, huh?"

"I do not know," she replied and the claws on her feet retracted.

"Hands too, Laura."

The girl obeyed and the claws on her hands slithered back up into her skin.

"Would you like to have some cake with Peter and me?" Kitty asked politely.

Laura shook her head. "I am not n the mood for chocolate. I had rather impale John Allerdyce on my claws. May I do that instead?"

"No, Laura, you may not. Now, come on over here and let's have some cake and forget all about annoying John Allerdyce, all right?"

Kitty nodded and let her pull her to the bed where Kitty plied her with cake.

"Well, this was fun ladies," Peter supplied, "but I have some things that need my attention so I need to go for a while," he replied. "Have a good afternoon and I'll see you both at diner."

With a bow he left the room, leaving Kitty and Laura to mull over the rest of the cake.

"He likes you?" Laura asked, looking a bit perplexed.

"Yes, I think he does," Kitty allowed.

"You are still going to the dance together?"

"Yes!"

"Dances are fun, you can dress up and enjoy yourself."

"Mhm," Kitty replied, lying back on her bed and daydreaming about the upcoming event that had everyone so worked up over it.

Laura sighed and began to flex her claws in and out.

"Laura?"

"Yes?"

"Is your whole body adamantium like Professor Logan's?"

"No, just my claws."

"How…how did they get that way?"

"When I was seven Dr. Rice triggered my mutation via radiation poisoning."

"When you were seven?" Kitty whispered in horror.

"Yes. He then extracted my claws and…"

"Extracted?" Kitty squeaked.

"Yes, he manually extracted them, infused them with adamantium and re-inserted them." She shuddered. "It was very painful."

"…they didn't give you any medicine?"

"No, it was not allowed."

"Oh my…Laura I am so sorry."

"It was a long time ago. I do not dwell on it, I only brought it up because you asked. I think I will go for a run now," Laura finished, looking rather more stony than usual.

She stalked from the room before Kitty could apologize for upsetting her. Kitty finished the cake and threw the box away before leaning back on her bed and contemplating finishing her nap. Of course, it was just then that Rogue saw fit to march in unannounced and flop on Laura's bed, sighing wistfully.

"What's up, Rogue?" Kitty asked as she looked over at her former roommate with concern etched along her features.

"I…I wish I had never taken the cure," Rogue whispered hesitantly, not looking Kitty in the eye.

"What? But…the cure was a lifesaver for you! Or rather for everyone around you. I mean, you don't have to cover up now. You can touch people. They can touch you. You no longer have to worry about going out in crowds or bumping people in the Danger Room. Or even going in the Danger Room! There are no cafeteria disasters or lunch room accidents."

"I'm an outcast now, a freak! A human here in the midst of all you mutants. And my mutation was sometimes good. I was just learning how to use it and then…impulsively I decided to throw it all away. I mean, I did it for me but…I guess I didn't understand what I was giving up. I mean I hated the voices in my head but….some of the powers were cool," she said, grinning. "I did well when I took John's power and used it to stop him attacking those policemen when the mansion was attacked a couple years ago. And if it weren't for the voices in my head I would never have been able to fly the X-Jet and pick the others up at Alkali Lake. I wasn't always a liability. But now I am."

"We're all a liability sometimes, Rogue. And what are you wearing to the dance?"

"The dance? Well, my dress is strapless and real low cut in the back. It's green with gold accents and is so pretty!"

"And what would it be if you weren't Cured?"

"Well…I wouldn't even be going. But if I did somehow manage to it'd have to be something that covered me head to toe."

"See, that's one good thing it did for you."

Rogue curled in a ball and Kitty could tell there was more to this that she was letting on.

"Bobby's sleeping with Lorna Dane," she burst out suddenly.

"What?" Kitty shrieked, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Bobby's sleeping with Lorna Dane. Because I told him no. And I…I feel guilty about it…If I hadn't taken the Cure I wouldn't need to feel guilty because there would've been a really good reason for me to tell him no. But I didn't have a really good reason. It just didn't feel right. I just didn't want to," she finished miserably, burying her head under Laura's pillow.

There was a shocked silence between them.

"You don't have to have a reason for that, Rogue. And he's scum for making you feel bad for saying no."

"It was nice, sometimes, not being able to be touched," Rogue murmured, voice muffled. "It wasn't so bad, all the time. And here…I really fit in here before the Cure. People talked with me and they didn't ask questions about my gloves or concealing clothes. Now I look like everyone else, but I'm not. Before we all had problems. Our mutations caused us all difficulties. We were united because of that and now you all are but I'm not and even though it was a curse sometimes I would give anything to go back in time and make a different decision."

"I think we all have times like that."

"I have them a lot, Kitty. A whole heaping ton of a lot. Wolverine stopped me as I left. He made sure that I was doing it for me and I was but…"

"But that wasn't good enough?" Kitty asked.

"Right! It wasn't good enough," Rogue replied, seeming happy that Kitty had hit the head on the nail.

"Well…once again you're just going to have to live with it," Kitty voiced

"I know. And…as much as I wish I'd never been cured…"

Rogue hesitated.

"Yes?" Kitty prompted.

"I would be beyond upset if the Cure somehow failed and my powers came back. I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

"Even though you wished you still had them?"

"Even though."

"Well, I'm sure the Cure won't wear off. It's been studied intensively."

"I know, I was just exploring all the possibilities, you know?"

"Yeah."

"My mutation came out the first time I kissed a boy."

"What happened to him?"

"It put him in a coma."

"Did he come out of it okay?"

"He didn't come out of it at all. He's in a long term care facility down in Mississippi. My parents were horrified. I packed my bags and hitchhiked all the way to Canada. That's where Logan found me. And now I'm here, for better or worse."

"Now, about Bobby…we could sic Laura on him if you wanted."

Rogue laughed. "I'll think about it."


	11. Chapter 11

Note: The prompts this time were to write about a phobia your main character has and to put a bad character in a good light or a good character in a bad light. Thanks to my awesome reviewers! This chapter is for you guys. I hope you enjoy it!

Reviews make for happy Sprites.

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Laura came through the door and announced regally, "Come, Storm is taking us on an impulsive field trip. She wants everyone downstairs and ready to go in twenty minutes or less."

"Where are we going?" asked Kitty, perking up with interest.

"We will be going into town. There is a new recreational area with a heated pool. She has rented the entire place for us so we will not have to worry about being bothered."

"A pool in December!?" Rogue exclaimed.

"It is a heated indoors pool. Apparently the place keeps the heat turned up like a sauna."

"Oh that sounds divine!" Rogue cried. "Get your suit, Kitty."

"I don't have a suit," Kitty replied, looking a bit fidgety.

"Neither do I," Laura said. "Storm told me I may wear shorts and a tank top. She would let you wear the same, I am sure."

"No, you can go on without me."

"What's wrong, Kitty?" Rogue asked.

"I…I'm not a fan of pools. Or any body of water, really," she replied, fidgeting a bit more.

"Whoa, I didn't know that, Kit," Rogue replied.

"Yea…well I don't talk about it much and it's not like we've ever had much opportunity to go out swimming or anything."

"But you did fine over that bridge!"

"That was a bridge. I didn't have to go into the water!"

She shuddered at the thought of it.

"You can sit on the sidelines! In shorts and a t-shirt," Rogue offered.

She shuddered again. "Someone might throw me in. Or I might fall in. Or the pool might just become a big mouth and swallow me right up. Or…"

"Whoa, Kit. Are you really that scared of it?"

"Yes! I know I shouldn't be but I am! I always start thinking of all of these things that could happen and I just hate it."

"Will you please come with us? You can sit very far away."

"I'll come, but I'm not wearing shorts and a tank top. You can't make me get in," she glowered.

In the end she wore jeans and a tank top, with a sweater over until they got there. The mutants trooped in and all stripped down to their suits and began to splash, swim and play in the warm water in the even warmer room. Kitty, looking at it as though it was about to come up and eat her, retreated to the far wall and curled in a ball in front of it. Whenever someone made a particularly loud noise she would phase, part of her disappearing right into the wall.

"Kit," Rogue replied, sitting beside her after a while and trying to not drip water on her. "What makes you so afraid?"

"Lots of little things I guess. My uncle taught me to swim by taking me out in a pond in the middle of the lake and throwing me in. I held my own for a little while but then I got so confused I panicked and went under. I nearly drowned. My mother forced me out again, in a bit safer of a scenario and finished the lesson. But I never trusted it after that."

"That sounds reasonable," Rogue offered.

"Then one of my friends drowned in her family's pond."

"Was she learning to swim?"

"No. She was ice skating. The ice cracked and she went under. They couldn't get her up in time. I was there and saw it happen."

"Oh, that's awful."

They were silent for a moment.

"Bobby took you ice skating once. I saw you, you seemed fine."

"Yes, because I knew that the water was very frozen. And it was shallow enough that even if it did crack I couldn't go all the way under. But if it's too deep or I don't know how frozen it is...I always imagine it swallowing me up. I don't even like to take baths," she confessed in a whisper. "Showers are much safer."

Rogue gave her friend a slightly damp hug. "Well then you just stay over here and nothing bad will happen, I promise."

"All right," Kitty replied, smiling as Rogue ran and dove into the deep end of the pool.

Laura came to sit by her next. "Why don't you come with me and dip your feet in? It might help you get over your fear."

"I don't know…"

"Please?" Laura asked.

Kitty gasped, she had never heard her say please.

So that was how Kitty ended up sitting on the edge of the deep end, her jeans rolled up to her knees, dangling her feet in the water as she watched Laura swim around with Rogue.

"Hey, Kitten," John whispered as he crouched behind her.

She scowled at him, still having not forgiven him for his cake thieving ways.

"Why aren't you swimming?"

"I don't want to get wet."

"Like this?" he asked, and with great speed he grabbed her around the waist and hurled her forward so that she landed right in the middle of the deep end of the pool with a rather large splash.

Kitty thrashed wildly, gasping, spluttering, and smacking several other frolicking students with her flailing limbs. She came up briefly but was panicking so badly that she went right back under, swallowing quite a lot of water on accident. She was so distraught that it didn't even occur to her to phase, all she could think about was how the water kept tugging at her clothes and trying to suck her under. How she would die like her friend, how she would drown now like she almost did years ago.

Then there were hands on her arm and her leg, which were the two appendages that were closest to the surface at this point and her head was above the water. She coughed and choked and spluttered, spewing water everywhere. Her hair was in her eyes and she couldn't see.

"Stop thrashing!" someone snarled at her and she obliged them as she realized that they were saving her.

She was flung harshly to the concrete around the edge of the pool and she crawled away from it, still coughing weakly. As soon as she was able she stood to her feet and ran from the building, not stopping until she was at the van that they had arrived at the pool in.

She climbed inside and sat there shivering until John appeared, holding her sweater.

"You okay?" he asked, wrapping in around her shoulders.

"I don't like water," she wheezed, glaring mutinously at him.

"Sorry about that, Kitty," John murmured, looking very apologetic indeed.

"No, you're not sorry. You're not sorry at all," Kitty rasped.

He shrugged. "I am actually. I didn't know you couldn't swim."

"I can swim. I just don't like water."

"Then why didn't you swim? Or phase?"

"I couldn't think, I just panicked."

"Oh, well I am sorry."

"I forgive you. Why'd you drag me out, anyway?"

"My intent wasn't to drown you."

She continued to shiver violently and he took his towel and threw it over her legs.

"Want me to go get you anything?"

"I just want to go home," she sighed, leaning her head against the window and fighting back tears.

"Storm said it'll be a while yet. She chewed me out pretty good for tossing you in," John said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. It was a mark of how cold and exhausted she was that she let him.

"You deserved it."

"Yea…I did, didn't I?" he grinned. "Storm drove the van, but Logan came in a different car. If I went and asked to borrow it to take you home would you ride with me?"

"You would do that?"

"Yes. It's about thirty degrees in this vehicle - I'd hate for you to get pneumonia and die. Your hair's frozen," he commented, pulling at a few strands and she realized that, indeed, it was.

"Yes, I would ride with you."

With that he left, reappearing a few minutes later. "Come on."

Clutching the sweater and towel to her she departed the vehicle and made her way over to Logan's car. John let her in the passenger side before getting behind the wheel.

"You called me Kitty."

"It's your name."

"You always call me Kitten, even though I hate it."

"Maybe I felt like being nice to you today," he responded as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"You also have yet to be a smart mouth."

"Like I said…maybe I want to be nice to you for once."

"One minute you're nice, then the next you're so horrible…"

"Do you like me?" he asked abruptly, causing a blush to bloom across her cheeks.

"What?"

"Do you like me? Like…if I asked you out would you date me?"

"I'm halfway dating Peter."

"And if you weren't and I asked you out?"

"I would say yes."

"And that is why I'm such a jerk to you sometimes."

"That makes no sense!"

"I'm attracted to you and I could tell you were attracted to me. But I'm not good for you," he told her, cranking the heat up to full blast and aiming the vents her way.

"How do you know?" she asked, sighing as she leaned toward the warm air.

"I know that I'm a jerk and worse. I know that I'm a bad person. I know that sometimes I'd rather be fighting against the X-men rather than for them. I know that I very nearly joined Magneto once. I know that in the end I would do nothing but hurt you. I know that it would never work if we got together. So I took anything you trusted me with and used it against you. I was behind horrid to you. I hurt you in every way I could think of without laying hands on you."

She stared at him mutely.

"I wanted you to hate me."

"Why?" she asked, trying to take all this in even as she shivered uncontrollably.

"Because I want you. Because I think you're one of the few…no…maybe the only person that I could really care about."

"And now?"

"Do you hate me?"

"No."

"I'm tired of trying, Kitten," he whispered, staring resolutely at the road. For once, the nickname didn't bother her a bit. "I'm tired of being mean to you. I'm tired of making you cry. Could…" he faltered. "Could you forgive me?"

There was silence for so long that he wondered if she had fallen asleep. Or passed out.

"I'm not mad."

"But you're hurt."

"I'm hurt. But I see your motives, and I_ could_ forgive you. But you would have to keep showing me this side of you that I see right now. I don't think you're a bad person. I think you have bad tendencies sometimes. You like to be the bad boy and the rebel and there's nothing wrong with that. You like to aggravate people. You like to get a rise out of them. But that's not always a bad thing. You are skilled at taking things and twisting them until they hurt worse than anyone could have imagined it ever could. But you don't have to. You can be sweet."

"I want you to give me a chance, but…I'm not worth it."

"You _are_ worth it, John. But you have to prove to me that you can repress that side of you that thinks you are all wrong for me. You have to prove to me that you are capable of being kind to me for more than one hour of one day."

"I will," he replied solemnly as he pulled the vehicle in the garage.

"Though I'm still going to the dance with Peter tomorrow."

"Of course. You can't break your word."

"Though…if you went and if you asked me…I would be honored to dance a dance with you."

"We'll see, Kitten," he replied. "Now come on, let's get you inside."

He walked her up to her room and when she came back from taking a shower it was to find John, in dry clothes with tousled hair, lounging on her bed. He sat up when she entered and closed the door so she could hang her towel on the back of it.

"What do you want?" she asked warily

"To make sure you were doing okay," he replied.

She blinked. "…I am not used to you being this nice."

"And I won't be. To anyone but you."

She laughed then and moved to sit on her bed beside John.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"Nah, you can keep me company. When are the others supposed to be back?"

He looked at his watch. "Not for….two more hours."

"Wow."

"When she does a field trip she really does one," John voiced.

"That's for sure."

Kitty started brushing out her hair, watched closely by John.

"What?" she asked, fidgeting and a bit self conscious.

"I'm just looking at you."

She put the brush down and turned back to John to find that he was very close.

"What are you…?"

And then he kissed her, slow and sweet and so much better than the last time. Kitty returned it hesitantly at first, but then she slid closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled back and looked up at him - he could read the uncertainty in her eyes.

"I won't hurt you again like I did yesterday."

She smiled and bridged the gap between them, kissing him again. He pushed her gently until she was reclining backwards on the bed with him leaning over her. He skimmed his hand down her side and across her stomach before bringing it to rest at her hip. When she pulled her face away from him he let her, and started to sit up, but she tugged at him, scooting over a bit, until he lay down on the bed beside her.

"I'm still cold," she giggled. "And you are very warm."

He smiled a bit at that, pulling her close and tugging the edge of the blanket up over her.

"I think I could get used to you being nice like this," she murmured.

"Just as long as you don't blab about it and ruin my reputation."

She laughed quietly. "I won't."

Without meaning to at all, Kitty drifted off to sleep. John was content to hold her and watch her sleep. He stiffened a bit when the door opened and Laura came in.

Her claws extended with a snicket and she glared at him.

"What are you doing in here?" she hissed.

"Kitty invited me in," he replied.

"Kitty dislikes you."

"We made up," he replied nonchalantly. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Yes, I do," she answered, holding out her claws menacingly.

He slipped away from the girl slowly so as to not disturb her. She rolled a bit toward where he had been and John stroked her hair until she quieted. He tugged the blanket farther up over her.

"Tell her I'll be in my room if she wants to see me?" he asked Laura.

"Why would I?" Laura growled.

He shrugged. "I apologized to Kitty and she forgave me. I don't want her to think I was being a jerk by running out on her while she was taking a nap. "

"She is more forgiving that I am. I would very much like to impale you on my claws." Laura sighed. "Unfortunately, she has forbidden it."

"And I am grateful for that, truly," he said with a ghost of his familiar smirk dancing on his lips.

"You should leave before I forget what she has asked of me," Laura warned, advancing a step.

John obliged her, hoping that he could continue to show Kitty that somewhere in him was a good side.


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: Prompt this time was a picture of a vase shattered on the floor. Thanks to my lovely reviewers and all of their suggestions! For those of you who are looking forward to it…this is the last chapter before the dance.

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

Kitty woke up some time later and sat upright, looking about for John.

"Oh, Laura, you're back!" she exclaimed once she spotted the girl.

"John is in his room if you would like to see him," she growled.

"…Okay…"

"He was here when I arrived. I forced him to leave."

"Well, I'm going to go apologize for falling asleep. I'll be back, okay?"

Laura simply glared at the wall.

Kitty made her way to John's room but he didn't answer when she knocked. Hesitantly, she phased through the door, but the room was empty. She then checked the library before making her way downstairs.

The sounds of people shouting drew her to the kitchen and she walked in to find Bobby and Rogue standing about ten feet away from each other, having a heated argument. Someone grabbed her wrist and she phased automatically before looking over to see that it was John. He was hidden in the shadows and, pressing a finger to his lips, waved her over.

She moved to stand in front of him and he pulled her close to his body, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Rogue walked in to find Bobby and Lorna Dane making out hot and heavy against the refrigerator."

"Oh," she breathed, near silently.

"Rogue started screaming like a mad woman and Lorna ran away. Bobby, however, didn't have the good sense to."

She turned in his arms and rose on tiptoes. He leaned down and she whispered in his ear, "Rogue already knew that Bobby and Lorna were sleeping together. I guess seeing them together was the last straw."

He nodded in agreement and she looked over her shoulder to see that Rogue now had a pretty cream colored vase with a few blue stripes clutched in her hand.

"I DON'T CARE! YOU LIED TO ME!" she screeched, hurling the vase at his head. He lurched to the side and it hit the dinner table, skidding across it and falling to the floor where it scattered to a million pieces.

"Rogue! What the…" Bobby yelled.

"Don't you Rogue me, Bobby Drake! You just better be glad I still don't have my power or I'd suck your soul out right this minute!" she shrieked, advancing on him menacingly.

"Maybe we should intervene?" Kitty whispered as Rogue took up another vase and hurled it at the unfaithful boy.

"I'm finding this quite entertaining, Kitten," John murmured, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You would," she grumbled, as Rogue seized yet another vase. This one struck Bobby in the shoulder and he grunted in pain.

"Would you stop?" he shouted.

"Why should I?" she screeched, hurling the last one within her reach at him. This one glanced off the side of his head, causing blood to well up and drip down the side of his face. The sight of it seemed to jar her and she turned and ran from the room, sobbing now.

Cursing under his breath and clutching a towel grabbed from the counter to his head, Bobby stormed out after her.

"Well… that was…interesting…" Kitty remarked, stepping away from John.

"Extremely," he replied dryly.

"Want to help me clean up the mess Rogue made? Unless you want to go ask her to clean it up herself? But I'd hate to see what she could find for ammo the next time," Kitty voiced, smiling up at John.

"I think I'll just help you."

She grabbed the trash can and made her way toward the debris. "Get the broom and dustpan for me."

John returned to find her picking up the largest pieces and dumping them in the trash.

"Storm's going to be furious - she loved those vases," Kitty remarked as she crawled under the table to reach some of the pieces that had scattered there.. "Especially that first one Rogue threw. You know, the pretty cream one with the blue rings around it?"

"Eh, she'll get over it. It's just stuff."

"Oh, John," she sighed, taking the broom and dustpan from him and sweeping the floor. "Get a rag and wipe down the table, please."

"Why?"

"In case there are shards of glass on it."

He snorted. "There's not any glass on the table."

"Fine," she grumbled and, once she had finished sweeping, she wiped the table down herself.

Once she finished cleaning up the mess with John watching idly, she pulled the trash bag out and tied it before putting a fresh one in.

"I'll take this out if you want to go check on Rogue," John offered.

She smiled brightly at him. "All right!"

He took the bag from her and she ran upstairs and burst into Rogue's room to find the girl lying face down on her bed sobbing.

"Oh, Rogue," she murmured sympathetically, moving to sit beside her.

"I knew it was going on, but to see it…" she sobbed. "That just made it so much worse! And then he tried to stand there and deny it!"

"He didn't!" she gasped.

"He did! And so I just snapped. And I broke all of Storm's pottery."

"I know. I cleaned it up."

"Thanks," Rogue sniffled. "I think I want to be alone now."

"Okay, sweetie," Kitty replied, exiting the room.

Kitty hesitated in the hallway - she wanted to see John, she also wanted to make sure she had all the proper accessories for the dance tomorrow laid out but Les Miserables was still waiting for her in the library…

In the end she decided to take some time to read and therefore made her way to the library. She phased through the stacks of tomes, grabbing her book as she went, and popped out of a shelf to find John occupying her chair, a book open in one hand.

"Hey, Kitten," he greeted her, marking his place with one finger. "How's Rogue?"

"Do you care?" she asked lightly.

"Nope."

She laughed a bit.

"Come on, the chair's plenty big enough for two," he voiced, patting the arm of it as he scooted over.

Kitty pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and shifted from foot to foot for a moment before moving forward and perching on the arm of the chair. She leaned against the chair back and draped one arm along it before finally throwing her legs across John's lap.

"See?"

"Yep, plenty big enough," she replied softly, opening her book.

They read for a while before a loud bang sounded from above. Kitty squeaked in fear and jumped, sliding accidentally off the chair arm, phasing as she went. When she recovered and solidified she found herself on John's lap.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, cheeks flaring into a brilliant blush. "I'm sorry…I…"

But John snaked one arm around her waist, hand resting on her hip. She stiffened a moment, looking at him with wide eyes.

"You okay?" he asked, eyes narrowing as he studied her.

"Yes…I-I…" she stuttered a bit and fell into silence.

The hand that rested on her hip slid up to her side and he pulled gently until she leaned against him, body still stiff with tension.

"Maybe we should go see what that was…"

"Probably Rogue throwing a chair at Bobby. We wouldn't want to get in the way of that, Kitten."

"No…"

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just…this…I'm being silly."

"I'm not going to hurt you. And you must trust me, or else you would have phased five times over by now."

"I'm trying to trust you," she replied.

"If you want up, I can't stop you."

"Would you try? To stop me?"

He stared at her a moment. "No, I wouldn't."

Some of the tension immediately rushed from her body and she relaxed a bit against him.

"That matters a lot to you," he said matter-of-factly.

"It does," she replied.

"Someone's forced you to do something before," he murmured, gazing intently at her.

"One theory the scientists that study Mutants have is that you have the gene to be a mutant, but the gene doesn't contain what your mutation is. That theory says that your personality and your fears shape your mutation. Bobby is afraid of heat, so his mutation would be ice. Storm is afraid of the unpredictability of storms so she can control them. Wolverine and Laura are afraid of being helpless so they have built in weapons. It makes sense, in a way."

"And you're afraid of being touched, of being trapped and forced and coerced. So your mutation gives you a way out."

She nodded, looking past him to avoid meeting his eyes with her own.

"Some fears are unfounded, unexplainable, stemming from no outward cause. Yours isn't like that, though, is it?"

"I don't want to talk about this," Kitty replied.

"And that in and of itself was an answer."

"John, don't…"

"Don't what, Kitten? I'm just reading my book," he replied with a grin, opening the volume once more and turning his attention to it.

Kitty leaned her head on his shoulder and clutched Les Miserables to her chest, closing her eyes and counting in French to dispel the bad memories that were vying for attention.


	13. Chapter 13

Notes: We were supposed to use something old, new, borrowed and blue outside of a wedding context. Now we have the much awaited dance! Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint!

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

The day of the much anticipated Christmas dance dawned cold and bright at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. There was a great ruckus throughout the mansion as all of the girls pulled out dresses, accessories, shoes, make-up and hairstyle pictures. There was much squealing and running about - the males simply tried to keep out of their way.

Kitty and Laura drug Rogue into their room and attempted to cheer her up, or, rather, Kitty did while Laura just offered to impale Bobby.

"I can't go to the dance, Kitty! I just can't!" Rogue wailed.

"I am going alone," Laura replied.

"Lots of people are going alone, Rogue. And you've got that beautiful new dress. I also heard that the new male mutant just got here this morning and will be attending the dance. He's around your age and, from what I hear, pretty easy on the eyes."

"I don't want to date anyone!"

"You can use him to make Bobby jealous."

"Oh…okay….I don't know…"

"You are going to the dance and that's final, Rogue! Now stop moping and go take a shower."

Two hours later all three girls had showered, dried their hair and were sitting in Kitty and Laura's room picking out their accessories.

Rogue's dress was floor length and a deep emerald green. The front dipped low and had one strap that hooked behind her neck in a halter style. The back of the dress was almost non-existent, the skirt starting just above her rear. There was gold embroidery along the front of the bodice, trailing down along one side to sweep around the hem of the skirt.

Kitty's dress was also new and was a strapless bright pink ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. The bodice was fitted and was gathered tastefully across her stomach. Rhinestones were scattered over the bosom and trailed down part of the skirt, which exploded out in a poof. It fell to the floor and was modest, yet lovely, though the skirt was so wide that it seemed to dwarf her even more.

Laura decided to borrow one of Kitty's dresses that was still in perfect condition. It was pale periwinkle with spaghetti straps and gathers across the chest. It was an empire style and the skirt fell from the bust where a piece of delicately beaded trim resided. The skirt was floor length and swirled around her loosely with a shimmery iridescent look.

"Here, Laura, these silver shoes would go good with your dress," Kitty said, thrusting them at her.

"Oh, you definitely need some pale blue eye shadow," Rogue interjected, tossing the container on Laura's bed.

"Oh, here, these would be perfect!" Kitty cried, handing Laura a dainty silver earring and necklace set. "This jewelry is really, really old. It was my great grandmothers."

"Thank you," she replied.

They dug through their things some more and turned up gold shoes for Rogue and silver for Kitty, along with matching jewelry and makeup for all three of them.

Once all the accessories were picked out they started on hair. Rogue did Kitty first, curling her hair and twisting it around in sections so that she formed a relaxed up-do. She left some curls hanging down and used unholy amounts of hairspray on her. Next she set to work on her makeup, using lots of pinks and shimmery tones.

"Oh, Kitty, you're so beautiful!" Rogue gushed when she was done. "I can't wait until you get in your dress."

"Oo, my hair is great, Rogue, thank you!" she squealed, looking in the mirror.

"Laura next!" Rogue chirped. She twined the younger girl's hair into a smooth and elegant French twist. She then took the ends that were left dangling and curled them elegantly so that they cascaded down, hiding the actual twist. Kitty did Laura's makeup and beamed at her when she was done.

Laura looked in the mirror and blinked in astonishment, poking at the glass.

"Stop it, silly, that's really you," Kitty crowed. "Now, Rogue, do you know what you want done?"

"Maybe something half up, half down?"

Kitty re-curled Rogue's hair so that it would hold, spraying each one with a holding serum as she went. She then gathered up the front and pulled it around, clipping it in the back with an emerald and gold butterfly clip Rogue had found on sale. She sprayed it all again with hairspray and then set to work on Rogue's makeup.

"Oh, this gold eye shadow is divine."

By the time all three of them got their hair and makeup done it was time to get dressed. They slipped into dresses and shoes, pinning on necklaces and bracelets and helping each other zip up. Then they preened in front of the mirror for a moment before joining all the other squealing females in the hallway.

The group descended down to where the boys, looking decidedly uncomfortable in suits and tuxes, waited for them. As couples began to pair off and groups of friends formed up they all made their way into the grand ballroom that Storm had prepared for the event.

Kitty, Rogue and Laura stood on the fringes as Kitty looked for Peter. She glimpsed him and John at nearly the same time and waved, choking back a laugh as both of them waved back at her. She made her way to Peter, smiling even more widely as John approached Rogue and Laura. He bowed low to both girls and, one on each arm, escorted them into the ballroom.

The ballroom was decorated with twinkling lights and streamers; there was a dance floor and small tables clustered about. A buffet was along one wall and it appeared that Storm and Logan would be controlling the music for the evening.

"You look lovely this evening, Katherine," Peter remarked quietly as he took her arm.

"Thank you very much," she replied. "You look quite handsome yourself."

The two went inside and began to mingle a bit. Everyone was sitting down to have a bite to eat and they grabbed a table with Laura, Rogue, John, and a mutant that none of them had seen before, but assumed was the new student that Kitty had mentioned. Rogue seemed to be eyeing him quite a bit while John appeared to be attempting to make small talk with Laura, who repeatedly ejected and retracted her claws.

"Who's your new friend, Rogue?" Kitty asked the girl.

"This is Remy LeBeau. He's joining us for the new term."

Remy smiled at Kitty and extended his hand.

"Pleased t' make your acquaintance," he responded, bringing her hand to his lips and laying a soft kiss across her knuckles.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?" Laura inquired. "There is no sun in this room."

He took them off and gave her a steady gaze. She did not even blink.

Kitty gasped a bit - his eyes were red and black and nothing, nothing close to human.

"It makes people uneasy, ya see. So Remy tends t' keep dem on."

"Well, Remy," Rogue responded. "We've seen that much and worse here, so you can leave them off if you choose. No one will give you grief over them."

"Thank you, cherie," he replied, pocketing the glasses.

The group made their way to the buffet, gathering up finger foods, sweets and punch before making their way back and settling down to eat. Once the guys had been back to the buffet four times and everyone seemed to be full enough, the lights dimmed and the music turned up.

Remy stood to his feet and extended his hand to Rogue, "May Remy have dis dance, cherie?" he inquired politely.

She blushed and nodded and off they went.

"So, can you dance?" John asked Laura rather rudely.

"I do not know. I have never tried," she replied.

"Well, then, let's find out." And he grabbed her hand and ushered her off to the dance floor.

"Would you like to dance, Kitty?" Peter asked her.

"I would love to, Peter," she said, smiling at him. The three couples whirled around the dance floor for a while, chatting with the other couples before finally coming back together at their table.

Remy and Rogue settled down to talk, but John asked Kitty, "Would you like to dance?"

"Peter, do you mind if I have a dance with John?"

He narrowed his eyes at the other mutant. "Not if you're all right with it."

"Thank you, Peter," she responded kindly and took John's hand.

"Laura, would you like to dance?" Peter asked.

"All right," she replied and they joined everyone else out on the floor once more.

"You look beautiful tonight, Kitten," John whispered in her ear as they twirled round and round.

"Thank you."

"I wish I'd asked you first."

"At least you tried to ask me at all."

He looked to make sure that Peter was occupied and kissed Kitty on the cheek.

"John!"

"He's busy dancing with Laura. You both look nicely awkward dancing with him since he's so tall."

"It is a bit awkward."

"After the dance if you want to hang out I'll be in my room. You can just phase in if you don't want anyone to see you coming in."

"All right, if I'm not too tired I will."

The song was coming to an end.

"I suppose I'd better take you back to your date so that I can stay in his good graces and get another dance later."

"Yes, that would be good," Kitty replied, a bit distracted by Rogue storming out of the dance, being pursued by the newest mutant. She was so distracted that she missed the mischievous glint in John's eyes.

"Kitten?" he whispered.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him suddenly. Her eyes widened when she saw the mischief in his, but by then it was too late.

Just as Peter glanced over at Kitty John bent down and kissed her passionately on the lip. Even though she knew she shouldn't because they were in public and, due to the look on John's face, Peter would most certainly be watching, she couldn't help herself. When she pulled away a few seconds later John let her go, but kept one hand on her waist.

"Please remove your hands from my date," Colossus growled.

"But I quite like my hands on your date," John replied, pulling her closer to him.

"John," Kitty murmured a bit desperately, pulling away from him. He let her go but the angry expression didn't fade from Peter's face.

"Peter, why don't we go outside and talk?" she pleaded.

"Yes, you have a lovely talk," John interjected. "I'll see you later tonight, Kitten," he finished with a wink.

Without warning Peter stepped forward and punched John right in the eye, knocking him back several steps. Kitty gasped as John's lighter flicked open and he launched a fireball at the larger mutant. She jumped back out of the way as Colossus dodged the flame and aimed another punch at John. However, Pyro was ready this time and dodged his enraged opponent, landing his own hit in the Russian's back before setting his tux on fire. Peter bellowed and sunk his fist into John's stomach before wrestling off his flaming jacket.

John was hurled back several feet and slammed into Siren, who emitted an ear piercing wail, causing everyone to slap their hands over their ears and the music to come to a screeching halt as the speaker systems exploded in a shower of sparks.

Pyro leapt to his feet as Colossus charged again. Wolverine launched himself across the dance floor to separate the two fighting young men. Laura positioned herself in front of Kitty, claws out and ready for action.

Storm got Siren to cease her screeching and stood staring around at her students, entire body language showing that she was positively livid.

"Get to your rooms. Now. John, Peter, come with me."

"Goodnight, Kitten," John murmured as he passed her.

Peter didn't say a word.


	14. Chapter 14

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Notes: As I mentioned before this is being written for a Writing Marathon. I ended up cutting some of the previous prompts because the scenes that resulted didn't work wtih the story as a whole. If you want to see some of the outtakes I'll post them when I finish - just let me know!

There should be approximately five more chapters. The last set of prompts I was given are worked throughout the remaining chapters so I'm going to post all of them now. The remaining prompts were to: end the story, be bittersweet, incorporate the "row, row, row your boat" rhyme, use "Maybe I wasn't cut out for this after all," and include an old woolen jersey, a pair of scissors, someone's good china, a pebble and a parrot.

To reply to my non-signed in reviewers for this last chapter…**Keira**, haha I'm glad I make your day and that you enjoyed this! **Sarah**, thanks for the input! Kitty and Rogue's dresses were my favorites too. **TigerLily**, I like John better than Peter too, though he does have his uses. And thanks to **all of you** who have been encouraging me through this story. I never thought it I would be able to keep it going for this long! You guys are amazing!

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

Kitty was pacing in her room waiting for it to be late enough to go see how John was when there was a firm knocking on her door.

"Yes?" she called out, one hand on the knob.

"Katherine, we need to talk."

She cursed under her breath and opened the door to find Peter standing there. She took a step back and let him in.

"What was that about earlier, Katherine?" he asked.

She bit her lip and rocked a bit from side to side, her dress swaying back and forth. "I…"

"You kissed him like you meant it."

She turned away before whispering, "That was because I did."

"I thought we…I care about you, Katherine."

"I care about you too but I…"

"Yes?"

"I care about him more," she breathed.

"I see," he replied stoically.

"I'm sorry, Peter, I…" she spun around to face him, skirt whipping around so fast it unsettled her and she stumbled into the desk. Peter merely stared at her, his face a cold mask. "I never meant to upset you or lead you on."

"Well you have achieved both, no matter what your intentions were. Good night, Katherine."

He spun on his heel and marched out the door, snapping it closed behind him. Kitty made no move to follow; rather she sat down a bit miserably on her bed, watching the clock.

The hands struck midnight but she could still hear voices in the halls. Finally near to one am silence seemed to descend, if not fully, at least in part. Kitty slipped off her jewelry and heels, but left her dress on and crept silently down the hall until she reached the boy's wing. Most of the sounds came from inside the rooms so her only fear was someone opening the door. However, no one did, and she phased inside John's room without knocking or being detected.

"Oh!" she gasped when she realized he was standing there in pajama pants and nothing else.

"Hey, Kitten," he greeted her with a lecherous grin as he pulled a t-shirt from his dresser drawer.

"John, your stomach," she gasped. There on his abdomen was a deep purple mottled imprint of Peter's fist.

"I've had worse," he shrugged, tugging the shirt on over his head and pulling it down so it covered the bruise.

"You have a pretty spectacular shiner as well," she commented.

He nodded in agreement. "So…why have you still got that pink nightmare on?"

"What?" she cried. "This is no pink nightmare! This is the most glorious and beautiful formal gown in existence."

"Whatever you say, Kitty Cat."

"No! No more nicknames! You are only allowed one!"

He chuckled a bit, "All right, Kitten. One it is. Still…why haven't you changed?"

"I like my dress. And since the ball was cut short I wanted to get maximum wear time out of it."

"You can't get the zipper on your own and Laura and Rogue are both AWOL aren't they?"

"Well…that might be part of the reason," she conceded.

"I could unzip you," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No, thank you," she answered curtly. "I'll be right back!" she exclaimed before phasing right through the wall.

A few minutes later she returned with an ice pack and sank to the ground beside John, leaning her back against his bed and inadvertently attacking him with her mighty skirt as it formed a large poof around her.

"Here, this should help," she voiced, pressing the towel wrapped ice pack against his swollen eye.

"Maybe I wasn't cut out for this, after all," John murmured.

"What?" she asked.

"Coming here. Working to be an X-Man. I enjoy causing trouble too much. Also...I just…I don't want to hurt you. And I know that someday I will. I don't know if I'm meant to be the good guy for you, Kitten. Maybe you would be better off with that big lug Colossus."

"Oh, John," she sighed, leaning towards him and accidentally mauling him with the skirt again. "I don't need you to be a certain kind of guy for me, you know. And I don't want Colossus. I want you."

He ignored this statement by continuing on his previous train of thought. "Storm has suggested that if I can't keep from causing damage to my fellow schoolmates that perhaps I should continue my schooling elsewhere," he deadpanned, batting away the offending material.

"What?" she gasped.

"I agree with her."

"Oh…" Kitty murmured, ice pack dropping into her lap as a hurt expression found its way onto her face.

"It wouldn't be so hard if I weren't here," he continued. "If…we...weren't here."

"What?" she questioned.

"When I'm here there's everyone I have to measure up to. And I have to keep a certain reputation. I just wish I could leave this place and start over."

"What's stopping you?"

He shrugged. "I was homeless once. Having a place to sleep and food to eat every day is…a welcome comfort. And…you're here."

Kitty leaned her head on John's shoulder and sighed, unsure of how to respond. They were silent for several long moments.

"Kitten?" he asked softly.

"That name's really growing on me," she murmured.

"Good."

"What was it, John?"

He hesitated. "Would you come away with me?"

She looked up at him in shock. "Me?"

He scowled. "Forget I asked."

"No…it's just…it was a shock. I…I…um…yes."

"Really?"

She thought about it a few more minutes. "Yes, I think I would."

"Then go ditch that monster of a dress and let's go."

"Right now?" she squeaked.

"Right now," he stated firmly.

"But…"

"Do you trust me?"

She nodded.

"Then let's go. It'll be fun."

She blinked at him and nodded, laboriously getting to her feet.

"Here," he said, "let me get that zipper."

"John…" she warned.

"I promise I won't do anything un-gentlemanly," he grinned.

She turned and, true to his word, all he did was pull the zipper down. In a kind of daze she phased into the hall, holding the dress to her front as she made a mad dash for her room. Laura was absent but she couldn't spare a thought for where she had gotten to. The girl quickly grabbed a duffel from the bottom of her closet and tossed in a variety of cold weather clothes and shoes before adding a couple of books, her notebooks and pens and a spare blanket and her pillow. Finally, she gathered her toiletry basket up and shoved it in on top of everything.

She struggled to zip the bag and tossed it by the door before shimmying out of her dress and pulling on a more comfortable bra. She then tugged on a pair of pink and brown striped knee socks, some brown leggings and a long sleeved brown undershirt. Over those articles went a pair of fluffy pink socks, her favorite old baggy jeans, and her favorite baggy charcoal gray turtleneck sweater. Finally she tugged on her dark brown leather winter boots. She then rummaged around in her underwear drawer and pulled out her stash of money, slipping it in her purse. She pulled her dark brown winter coat on, wrapped a pink and brown scarf around her neck, shoved her pink hat and gloves in her pockets, grabbed her duffel and purse and, slinging them on her shoulders, she phased through the door.

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Notes 2: Aaaand…we have a plot twist! I blame the caffeine. Yep yep.


	15. Chapter 15

Notes: And for all you people who keep begging me for it…we now get a glimpse into Kitty's past. Since several of you showed interest I will be posting outtakes when the story is finished. Thanks to all my reviewers, but especially to Keira who makes me laugh. You guys are great!

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

_Row, row, row your boat,_

John met her in front of the library wearing jeans and an old woolen jersey with a similar duffel bag slung over his shoulder. A bit of the tension seemed to leave him when he saw her coming toward him with luggage.

"You ready?" he asked quietly, peering about intently for teachers.

"Yes," she replied and he took her hand, leading her quickly down to the garage.

John grabbed a set of keys off the wall and pulled her to Cyclops's old car - no one had used it since his death. He tossed their bags in the trunk and they climbed in; he cranked it and turned the heat on to warm up.

"You sure about this, Kitten?"

"Yes, John, I am," she stated intently.

He gave her a curt nod and backed out of the garage, waiting until they were well down the drive before turning the lights on. Once they reached the highway he turned right.

"Where are we going?" Kitty asked.

"The interstate."

"Well I figured that. I meant…what direction? What's our destination?"

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" he asked, turning the heat up.

"I don't know….anywhere!" she exclaimed, pulling her hat off her head, removing her gloves and unwrapping her scarf.

"Warm or cold?"

"All I brought was cold weather clothes."

"Cold it is, then. Let's go out to the northwest," he said.

"Okay," she agreed, shifting a bit in her seat. "Ow!" she murmured.

"What is it?"

"There's something in my boot." She tugged it off and fished around in it for a minute before pulling the offending object out. Kitty turned the console light on and peered at it. "Oh, it's a pebble! I wonder how that got there." She took the other boot off and pushed them up under the dash before reclining her seat a little and wiggling around until she found a comfortable position.

She watched the lights flash by as they passed through the town at a sedate speed. Once they hit the interstate he floored it, more comfortable going fast on the dark, largely deserted, road. John played around a little, shifting gears, seeing how fast he could go, and switching lanes like a madman.

"How fast are you going?" Kitty squeaked, gripping the door handle.

"Now? I'm only doing eighty-five."

"ONLY doing eighty-five?"

"My dear Kitten, I was going one hundred and ten. I'm in a hurry to put as much distance between us and that school as possible."

"Just don't kill me, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it. You sound tired. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"That does sound nice." She curled up, in the seat and John rested his hand on her knee. She smiled, drifting off very quickly.

Kitty woke to darkness and her cell phone ringing.

"Here," she heard John say and it took her a few moments to remember what all had happened and that she was in a car with John.

She looked at the face to see who it was.

"It's Storm."

"Are you going to answer it?"

"Should I?" she asked hesitantly.

"That's up to you."

She laid the phone in her lap and they listened to it sing until it stopped, giving a ding that announced it had went to voice mail.

A few minutes later it rang again. And again. And again.

"Just answer it, Kitten," he sighed.

Finally, the fifth time it rang, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Kitty?"

"Yes."

"Kitty, this is Storm. Where are you?"

"School's not in session," she squeaked.

"But I am still your teacher and am responsible for you. Where are you at?"

"With John."

"John? We had yet to notice that he was missing. Your roommate alerted me in a high temper. She nearly took off Bobby's arm. He's in the med bay right now and Wolverine is supposed to be giving her a stern talk. However, I heard laughter, so I think he might be congratulating her instead…" The woman sighed. "Anyway, are you two all right?"

"I'm fine, Storm. We're both fine. I'm sorry my sudden disappearance put Laura in a temper. Not that it really takes much… But I think she went after Bobby more because of Rogue."

"Rogue?"

"Bobby cheated on her with Lorna."

"Oh, I see. Well, she seems to have taken up just fine with Remy LeBeau. I had to chase them out of an empty classroom earlier. But that is beside the point! Where are you?"

"On the road."

"When exactly do you expect to be back here?"

She glanced over at John who was wearing a decidedly stony expression.

"I don't know," she whispered, biting her lip.

"Katherine Pryde!" she snapped.

"Don't! Just don't, all right? We'll be back when we come back and that's that!" she cried, hanging up the phone.

"Do you want me to take you home?" John asked very quietly.

"No," she scoffed. "Why would I want that?"

"I thought maybe you'd changed your mind."

"No, not at all. I'm happy to be going with you…wherever it is we're going," she finished with a giggle.

"Good," he replied, expression softening just a hair.

She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the seat - she wasn't sleepy, she just wanted to relax a moment. However, she must have dozed off because when John rested a heavy hand on her knee she jerked awake with a cry, phasing so he was no longer touching her.

"Whoa, easy, it's just me," John assured her, pulling his hand back and glancing at her warily. "Don't phase out into the highway on me."

"I can choose to stay on a surface or to pass through it when I'm phased," she replied shakily, resuming her solid state.

"Kitty…"

She did not reply.

"Sometimes you shy away from me when I try to touch you, but other times you're perfectly fine with it."

"When I'm fine with it it's because I feel safe. I feel like I have some measure of control over it. When it's sudden or I'm not sure of the intent or I'm already upset…" her voice trailed off.

"I don't mean you harm. Except for that day in the library I've never meant you harm."

Silence.

"Who hurt you?"

"No one," she replied, voice tight with what sounded like tears.

"It's not the memory of no one that has you about to cry right now."

"I don't like talking about him."

"It wasn't since you came to Xavier's. You said that was an escape."

"It started when I was six and lasted until just a few weeks before the Professor recruited me."

It was his turn for silence.

"It started out just words, taunts, things to scare me," she whispered, so soft he turned down the heat and the radio that was giving a soft background noise to hear her better. "Then it was slaps and punches and kicks. Tying me up for hours when no one else was home and putting me in closets or other small spaces. Threatening me so I wouldn't tell. Punishing me if I did something he deemed bad."

"Your father?" John couldn't help himself from asking, his voice burning with rage.

"No!" Kitty exclaimed. "No, my dad was great."

"Who then?" he growled.

"John…" she whispered, shrinking away from him.

He took a breath, and then another, in an effort to calm down.

"Sorry, Kitten," he replied lightly

Silence enveloped them once more and he let it, wincing when it was broken by the soft sounds of the young woman crying.

"My uncle's stepson," she interjected suddenly, voice thick with tears. "My aunt and uncle were killed in an accident when I was five and he was ten. There was no biological family to take him, so my parents did. He always acted like the perfect kid, and I was too frightened to say any different. They treated him just like they would have a son, and as we got older they gave him the task of walking me to and from school, watching me when they were out, stuff like that."

She pulled her feet up in the seat, curling in on herself. "He always hit where there wouldn't be bruises, tied me up with things that wouldn't show marks."

"You said it stopped a few weeks before Xavier came calling?"

"When…when I was twelve…" a sob choked off her words.

"Kitten, it's okay. You don't have to tell me about this. I'm sorry I pushed you into talking."

He listened to her breathing for a few moments as he forced his white knuckled hands to release the steering wheel. When her breathing was perfectly steady she asked, "Do you want to know?"

"Yes."

"I've never told anyone. My parents don't even know the half of it. They took me to a counselor but I wouldn't talk. I think that's the main reason they let me go away to school. They thought it would help me."

"No wonder it's eating at you."

"I told you about the first time I phased."

"Yes," he answered.

"The second time I phased through his bed and landed naked in my mother's lap as she sat on the couch doing her embroidery. I'd just turned thirteen."

John muttered an oath under his breath.

"He got a trip to jail and I got a trip to the hospital." She giggled then, high pitched and nervous. "The nurses and doctor had a time with me - I kept phasing in and out. I couldn't control it." The giggles stopped. "I haven't seen him since."

"What's his name?"

"Why?" she asked warily.

"So I can find and roast the bastard," he hissed.

"You…you would do that?"

"Yes. Give me his name."

"No."

"Why not?" he asked clearly perplexed.

"It wouldn't help. It was a long time ago," she replied, and he glanced over to see her wiping at her face with her scarf. "Do you…"

"What, Kitten?"

"Do you think less of me?" she asked in a small voice.

The car swerved dangerously as he gaped at her. After a moment he turned his eyes back to the road.

"Of course not. God, why would I?"

Her breath rushed out in a relieved sigh.

"That was always my biggest fear. That if I told anyone they would think less of me, blame me…"

"Because you blame yourself."

"Yes."

"Well I don't. You were just a kid. He shouldn't have ever harmed you and your parents should've noticed long before they did."

She started crying again then and John was silent, letting her get it out. After a while she seemed to calm down and he focused more on the road and less on the girl beside him. He turned the radio up a bit and the heat up higher when he began to feel chilled. The road rolled beneath him in a straight and easy line and he let it, let it take away the tension he felt.

He was pulled from his silent musings by the feel of Kitty's fingers brushing along the back of his hand where it rested on the gear shift.

"Thanks, John," she murmured, and it was the last either of them spoke for a long time.


	16. Chapter 16

Notes: And here is a lovely LONG chapter!

To my non-signed in reviewers…**Keira** - you are spastically awesome; I'm so updating so you'll keep your little brother to yourself. Oh, and thanks for telling your friends about this fic. *_* **Sarah** - I won't forget the outtakes! **TigerLily** - that *is* cool that you all three know each other irl.

Thanks to all of my reviewers, signed-in or not. Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

_Gently down the stream,_

The road rolled beneath them steady and smooth and Kitty found herself watching it and counting the dotted line on the middle of the road as the sun rose behind them. It cleared her head and helped her push the memories away where they belonged.

"You're going to make yourself sick," John interjected, causing Kitty to jump a bit. It was the first time either of them had spoken since she had thanked him after their heavy conversation.

"And you're going to fall asleep and get us killed. You've been driving all night."

"I like driving. It's soothing to just let the road move beneath you and the car propel you forward. To not have to think a whole lot, just to be. I like being one with the car."

"I'm just worried about being one with the ditch. Or the tree. Or that exit sign. Or a building."

He rolled his eyes at her. "We'll stop soon. I'm getting hungry."

"But not sleepy?"

"Nope. This is…it's nice. Being with you away from everyone else and all the stress that the school has going on. It's…soothing."

"I'm glad you think so. Can we make a stop?"

"Sure, we'll need gas soon. This car gets amazing mileage though."

She smiled, unable to decide if she was pleased because of John's pleasant attitude or because he wasn't prodding her for any more information about her past. She began to shift in her seat - she was stiff and her muscles were complaining from their long sojourn in the car. Finally, John took an exit off into a decent sized city.

He pulled into a gas station and rolled to a stop at the pump.

"If you want, we'll grab breakfast in a few minutes."

"That sounds good! I'm getting really hungry."

They donned their coats, hats and scarves that had been pulled off sometime during the night as the heater had made them uncalled for. Kitty stood by John while he filled up the pump and when he went in to pay she followed him so she could freshen up.

She giggled to find that her hair was still in its elaborate hairstyle but cringed when she realized that her makeup was smeared down her face from all of her crying. Pulling some lotion from her purse she quickly removed the makeup and washed her face in the tiny sink. She then refreshed her deodorant with a stick she kept in her purse and, after relieving herself and washing her hands, she made her way to the car.

"Ready, Kitten?" he asked. She nodded happily and he pulled out on the road. "Look around for somewhere you want to eat.

"Oo there's a pancake house!" she cried, pointing out the window.

"Okay," he turned in, parked, and they trooped out of the car.

Once they got seated in a booth by the wall she began to pore over the menu.

"Oo, that looks good…wait..no…that looks better. Oh but this one has fruit! No…wait…you get eggs and bacon with that one, but no fruit. Oh, that one has oatmeal. MUFFINS!"

"Kitty!" John exclaimed, clearly exasperated. "Just pick something!"

"But…there are so many good things," she replied, looking at him with a perplexed expression on her face.

His own expression closed down and Kitty forced herself to calm down a moment.

"John?"

"Looking at you here…like this…it's hard to believe that you've been through all that we talked about earlier. That just a couple hours ago you were crying and upset."

"I've pushed all that away. It's locked in a tiny box in my head and lack of sleep has pushed it off a cliff. For now. I'm not _constantly_ tormented, John. Really, how would I cope with daily life if I was?" she asked him with a smile. Her face then grew serious, "Please, just let it go for now. Let me enjoy breakfast without having to worry about things that are over and done with."

"All right, Kitten."

"Can I get your drink orders?" the waitress, who appeared out of nowhere, said.

"Water," John said tersely.

"Milk, please!" Kitty cried, bouncing in her chair.

"I'll be right back," the woman said before leaving them to get the drinks.

"What are you getting, John?" Kitty asked, acting as if the serious tone to their talk had never happened.

"Silver dollar pancakes with two eggs and bacon."

"Oh! Those are the cute tiny ones, right?"

"Yes. Hmm…"

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked, sitting the drinks down in front of them.

"Kitty?"

"Yes! I think so!"

They both looked at her expectantly.

"You go first, John."

"I'll have the silver dollar pancakes."

"Two eggs and bacon all right?"

"Yes. Eggs over easy."

"And you, miss?"

"The pancakes with blackberries! And an egg, fried well done. And some bacon."

"All right, I'll get these put in. They'll be up shortly."

Kitty continued to bounce in her seat while John stared at her with a perplexed look on his face.

"Why are you…bouncing?"

"I'm excited! I get pancakes! With fruit! And bacon! And eggs! And I'm not at school! And you're here! And we ran away! And my hair is pretty!"

"…you're sleepy aren't you?"

"I passed sleepy a looong time ago!"

"Maybe we should get a hotel room…"

"We'll have to eventually. We can't drive and drive forever. Especially since you won't let _me_ drive."

"I didn't hear you offering, though I'll think about letting you drive later. After breakfast though, we'll drive a little more and then we'll have lunch and then we'll get a hotel room."

"Okay!" she spewed out with glee as she continued to bounce.

"You are making me tired just watching you," John remarked ruefully.

Kitty tried to sit still but she just ended up fidgeting from one end of the booth to the other.

John laughed, "Fine, go back to bouncing."

She grinned and obliged him by once more bouncing in place.

The waitress returned and set their food in front of them and she dug in with abandon, ceasing her bouncing in order to eat, practically inhaling her eggs and bacon before starting in on the pancakes and fruit.

"Oh, these are so good! Here, try some!" She extended her fork with a large bit of pancake and fruit on it. John took the bite and chewed slowly, savoring it before swallowing.

"Those are really good. Would you like some of mine?"

"No, thank you!"

John finished all of his food and part of Kitty's before paying and then the two once more departed for the car.

John got them back on the interstate and they drove until the sun was high in the sky and he was yawning pretty heavily. "You ready to stop, Kitten?"

"Yea, I'm tired of sitting in the car."

They drove a few more miles until they reached another decent size town and they once again took another exit.

"You hungry?"

"Not really. I'm just tired," she yawned.

"Okay we'll get some sleep and then go out for dinner tonight. Sound good?"

"Sounds great."

They drove around until they found a place that looked nice enough but was also cheap. They drug the bags from the trunk, John carrying Kitty's, and made their way inside. Kitty ran to the restroom while John got them checked in. She came back to find him waiting for her by the elevator.

"We're on the third floor. However, there's some big family group here so the only rooms they have are with King beds."

"Oh…" she commented hesitantly, yawning widely as she did.

"I don't think I could drive anymore right now so you can have the bed and I'll take the floor. Then we'll try to find a better place next time."

Kitty didn't answer, but rather worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

They made their way up and Kitty bounced around inspecting the room while John showered and changed into pajamas. Kitty took down her hair, which took quite a while, and then showered, brushed her teeth and changed into pajamas as well. She pulled out her blanket and crawled into bed beside John, who was dozing on top of the covers. When she settled in he woke with a start and quickly stood to his feet, wobbling slightly with exhaustion.

When he went to pull the extra blanket off the bed she murmured his name.

"John?"

"What is it?"

"John…it's a king size bed. There's tons of room. I could spread all the way out and not even crowd you."

"It's not me being crowded I'm worried about."

"John, I trust you enough not to try anything while I'm asleep."

He studied her a moment. "That means a lot to me, you know."

"There's no sense in paying this much for a room and you not even getting to use the bed."

"After what you told me…"

"Don't!" she choked out. "Don't treat me different! Please, I couldn't bear it."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"If I hadn't of share those things with you, would you be lying in this bed right now?" Kitty asked, voice quivering slightly.

"Yes, but you did share those things. I won't take advantage of you. I won't hurt you. I won't push you where you're not comfortable being pushed."

"I know you won't. All we're going to do is sleep. I'm fine with sleep. I miss sleep! Besides, it was five years ago. I think I've worked through enough of it to be okay with this."

John hesitated.

"Please?" she asked.

"If you get uncomfortable with it you'll ask me to get out of the bed. Agreed?"

"Agreed," she replied, snuggling down under the blankets and curling into a ball.

John pulled the heavy curtains shut and turned out the light so that the room was thrust into a shadowy twilight. The young man carefully slid into the bed beside her and, sure enough, it was big enough that even when he was spread out very comfortably there was still two feet of space between them.

"You're okay with this?" John asked.

"Go to sleep, silly," she whispered, stretching over and kissing him on the cheek before returning to her side of the bed. For once, he obliged her without comment.

* * *

Kitty woke with a small cry several hours later, sitting half up in the bed as she phased in and out.

"Kitty," John called softly and from the way he leaned protectively toward her it wasn't the first time he'd had to say her name.

"Sorry, bad dream," she murmured. Collapsing back to the bed.

"You need to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, smiling tightly - it didn't reach her eyes.

There was silence for a few minutes until Kitty broke it. "John?" she whispered, sounding hesitant and a bit pained.

"Mm?" he murmured sleepily.

"Could…could you hold me?"

His eyes snapped open. "You sure?"

"I'm afraid to go back to sleep. Please?"

"All right."

He slipped toward her and she obliged him by meeting him in the middle of the bed, dragging the blanket which she clutched with her. He pulled the heavy quilt back and helped Kitty fix the blanket underneath it so it covered them both, then he pulled the motel issue quilt back over the top of it. Wrapping one arm around her waist and moving slowly so as to not startle her, he pulled her tight against him; her back pressed to his chest, and spooned around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

"Very," she replied.

"I'm glad," he murmured.

They both drifted into a deep sleep, and when Kitty woke again the room was utterly dark. She had rolled onto her stomach in her sleep and John was pressed tightly against her side, one arm still tossed across her torso.

She peered at the digital clock and realized that it was nine at night. She decided to let John sleep a while more. She was kind of sleepy herself now that she thought about it…

The next time she woke she was once more on her side, but this time she was facing John and her face was pressed to his chest. His arm was still across her waist and she wondered if he had moved at all the whole time they had been asleep.

She was wide awake this time and realized that it was about three in the morning. She trooped to the bathroom to straighten up and once she was locked in there it really it her.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "I ran away with John Allerdyce. I just slept in the same bed as John Allerdyce…What am I thinking? Storm and Laura and Rogue and Peter are all going to be so angry and disappointed… But…this…this makes me happy. I am happy here. With John. And they'll just have to deal with that."

She nodded to herself at her new resolve and exited to find John sitting up and staring bleary eyed at her, the room now lit by one small lamp.

"What time is it?"

"Just after three am."

"I slept a long time."

"You look like you need to sleep some more."

"That does sound good," he murmured. "Lay with me?"

She nodded and crawled back into bed. He slipped down in the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her stomach.

She stroked his hair but ended up dozing off again, this time waking when the sunlight began to stream through the curtains.

When she pulled away John woke with a start. "What time is it?"

She peered at the clock. "Six am."

"Wow," he breathed.

"You slept a long time. But you needed it."

"You hungry?"

"Oddly enough, no."

"Let's get cleaned up and check out," he said tersely.

"All right," she replied, studying him with a thoughtful look on her face.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Note: First of all…apologies for the super long wait for an update! First, I had the chapter ready and then the internet went out for THREE days. Then, when it came back my computer freaked out and CORRUPTED my story file, so I lost *everything.* Re-writing it took a *long* time. Also, I'm really not happy with this chapter at all. Please don't throw things at me if you hate it, I'll try to make the next one better. I knew if I took any longer on this one I'd never get past it.

* * *

The patterns of their days became much the same for about a week - drive a while, eat, drive some more, find a motel and sleep. They wandered all along the northern states and finally passed up into Canada. Kitty received eighteen more phone calls from Storm, along with ten voice mails, none of which she answered or checked. John had not brought his phone.

"So, Kitten, it's been a week. You ready to go back yet?"

"No."

He looked at her a bit skeptically.

" I'm not regretting my decision to come with you," she replied softly to his unspoken thoughts.

"You are a little bit."

"Okay, a little bit but…I'm having a really great time. Though I feel bad about running out on everyone and I…I let them down. But I didn't let you down, so I'm happy to be here. Truly. Are you ready to go back?"

"God, no. I just…I was just worried is all."

"I miss Laura, and Storm, and Rogue, and I wish I had at least told them bye but…I'm happy. I really am," she said with a smile.

"Good. So…what are we going to do next, Kitten?" he asked.

"Well…I kind of like it here in Manitoba. And I'm really tired of the car and hotels. I know there are some cabins and things for rent and you can get them pretty cheap in the winter."

"We could look for something. Maybe look for a job or something. Our money's getting kind of tight," he mused.

"That sounds nice," Kitty replied.

And so they went.

* * *

They roamed around looking at cabin after cabin, but it wasn't until John fooled around and crashed the car until they settled on a place.

Kitty was chattering on about various towns that they had been in hopes of ignoring John's erratic driving when suddenly he hit a patch of ice and the car began to skid out of control. The car spun off the road, crashed through a fence and smashed into a tree in the yard of the couple they had spoken with about renting a cabin from earlier in the week.

When the car finally came to a stop Kitty was standing in the middle of yard about twelve yards behind it with a shell shocked expression on her face. From what she could see, John wasn't moving. She seemed to be frozen in place but when smoke started billowing from under the hood the girl ran toward the car and jerked the driver's door open. She heard something slam from behind her and shouts and suddenly the couple from the house was standing beside her.

"Oh, dear, what happened? Are you all right?" the woman asked, while the man muttered in French.

Kitty ignored her and continued to shake John while shouting his name. John stirred, moaning a bit, and the man and Kitty pulled him from the car.

"John?" she murmured as they eased him to the ground.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Just a little dazed," he replied, rubbing his forehead.

"What happened?" the woman asked again.

"Patch of ice," John grunted. "Sorry about the fence…and the yard…and the tree…"

"Oh, don't worry about that! I'm just glad you two weren't seriously hurt…Are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

"No, though we need a place to stay now that we don't have a car," John muttered.

And just a few hours later they were set up in a cabin, the car had been towed away as the tree had decimated it, and Kitty was fussing over John who was sporting a brilliant knot on his head.

"Kitty, I am fine," John growled for the umpteenth time.

"But, John! I think you should go to the doctor…you're head is all swollen and purple…" she fretted.

"Why don't you unpack?" he asked her abruptly. The implied "_and leave me alone_" was not vocalized but she took the hint all the same.

* * *

The couple, who Kitty had to remind John were the "White's" not the "Witt's", were very nice people and had pointed the two teens toward establishments that were possibly hiring. While the lake was still frozen they could get to the town quickly by ice skating across the lake, once it thawed they would have a bit more trouble but walking wasn't out of the question. John spoke of getting a row boat when the time came.

They also amused themselves by ice skating on the lake, though it took a week before Kitty was comfortable going out by herself or even straying more than a few feet away from John. Kitty found a job in the small library and John got hired at the diner as a cook.

Kitty liked going and visiting the oldest lady in the little town, who was ninety-seven, and helping her out around her house. John would split her wood and Kitty would clean up for her and cook her lunch. She always said that they reminded her of her grandchildren.

"Katherine, dear, come here," she called one day while Kitty was fixing her a lunch of stew.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I want you to have something."

"You don't have to give me anything!"

"Well, I want you to have to. So here," she said, handing her a very delicate seeming china teacup and saucer. "It's a teacup and saucer from my good china."

"I don't want you to break the set up!"

"Oh, I've given out pieces from it for years. Only to very special people though. So, here, I would like you to have a piece of my good china."

"All right then, thank you very much, ma'am, I'll treasure it."

John liked going to the pub that everyone seemed to frequent, though some aspects of it frightened Kitty, due to the first time they went in.

"Yar!" someone called from behind the bar. "Welcome t' my pub!"

"Welcome to the pub! Welcome to the pub, you lousy curs!" squawked a very large parrot with brilliant plumage that perched on the bartenders shoulder.

"Oh!" Kitty exclaimed. "I don't like the looks of this…"

But John liked it just fine, so they stayed, and ended up coming back rather frequently for stew.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Notes: Sorry once again for the lapse in update time. This time it was because I started another Kyro and it just wouldn't leave me alone! Also for this one, keep in mind Kitty and John are both legal adults. *wink*

**Keira, Sarah and TigerLily**…I love your reviews and apologize for not recognizing them in the last chapter but I did get, and very much enjoy, reading them! One or all of you should give me your emails in your next review because I would love emailing with you. *_* **Sarah**, for your cough you could try Vick's Vapor rub, and hot tea with honey might help your throat - those are my two cures for when I'm sick, along with a nice long hot shower. I hope you feel better!

* * *

_Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,_

"JOHN!" Kitty screeched.

He groaned and heaved himself up off the sofa, shuffling over to the kitchenette where Kitty stared forlornly into the oven.

"What did you explode now, Kitten?" he asked tiredly.

"I didn't _explode_ anything," she snapped. "It's not my fault the food doesn't like staying in the proper containers when I try to cook it!"

Chuckling a bit John peered into the oven to find that the chicken casserole Kitty had been making had somehow oozed out of the dish and was pooled in a messy, quickly charring pile in the bottom of the oven.

"How do you_ do_ that?" he asked in disbelief.

"It's apparently a talent of mine," she sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair.

He grabbed a pot holder and pulled out the dish before turning off the oven. "Well…maybe I can cook the rest of this in a skillet…"

"Or we could just have sandwiches again. Or the leftover stew."

He poked at the remnants of food with a spoon. "This does seem to be pretty much a lost cause. Let's just have sandwiches."

"All right," Kitty replied, pulling the bread, meat, cheese and vegetables out. She grabbed a serrated knife and started slicing the bread. "Ouch!" she cried, jerking her hand away from the bread.

"Damn it, Kitty," John growled, jerking the knife out of her hand and slamming it on the counter before gently taking her hand in his.

Blood dripped steadily from a long gash on her index finger and he wrapped it in a towel to stop the bleeding. The fact that she hadn't phased when he showed his anger made him smile a bit to himself.

"I'm sorry, John," she sniffled.

"It's okay. Though maybe you should stop trying to prove yourself in the kitchen, huh?" he asked, unwrapping her finger and running it under cool water. He then pulled the first aid kit from one of the drawers and twined a bandage tightly around her finger.

"Maybe so," she conceded.

"Go sit down and I'll finish fixing dinner," he prompted her, kissing her gently on the forehead.

She curled up on the couch and was watching the fire when John entered carrying a plate of sandwiches with a couple of bottles of water tucked under one arm. John ate all of his food and half of Kitty's before sitting the plate on the floor and leaning back contentedly.

"I'm glad we came here, John," Kitty sighed, snuggling close to him.

"John, I'm so happy here with you," Kitty sighed one night.

"I'm happy here with you, too, Kitten."

She gave a huge yawn and rolled off the couch, standing in one fluid motion and making her way to the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later in pajamas with her hair falling freely around her face. John took his turn getting ready for bed and came out to find her already snuggled under the thick down quilt. He crossed the one large room and made sure that the door was locked before banking the fire for the night and finally crawling into bed with Kitty.

She snuggled up against John, who began to trail his hand up and down her side. She sighed, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, deep and passionate, and soon his hand was sliding under her t-shirt to glide up her back. He continued kissing her even as he pushed her gently onto her back and leaned over her, sliding one leg between hers so he could support himself without dropping all of his weight on her. One hand braced himself over her while the other roamed along her side and down her leg to grip her calf and pull it up around his waist. The hand then moved back up to glide along her stomach, pushing her shirt up as it went and she moaned a bit, arching her back as he gently cupped her breasts before sweeping back down to stroke her stomach.

He hesitated a bit as he ran his fingers along her waistband - this was normally where she told him to stop, where she pushed him away and said she was tired and they needed sleep. Tonight she said nothing. He moved to lie beside her and she turned her head so she could continue kissing him. He slipped his fingers under the waist band of her pants, running his fingertips along her lower stomach, and still she said nothing. Then he slipped them under her panties and she still did not protest.

"Is this all right?" he asked, gazing deep into her eyes.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips.

He rose over her again, tugging lightly at her pants.

"How about this?"

"Yes," she insisted, smiling at him. "It's more than all right."

He still hesitated and, with a wry grin, Kitty divested herself of her pants and then her shirt. "See?" she said brightly, but then she curled one arm over her chest and a self conscious shadow swept over her face.

"You're beautiful," he whispered hoarsely, before leaning down to resume their kiss.

He was slow and gentle with her, but even though she still started crying pretty heavily once they was finished.

"Kitty?"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, curling against him.

"No, I'm sorry, I tried not to hurt you," he murmured, rubbing slow circles on her bare back.

"I'm just overwhelmed, I'll be okay in a minute," she sniffled, clinging to his shirt and burying her face in his shoulder and he gently stroked his fingers through her hair. "It was…nice. I felt very close to you I'm just…overwhelmed."

"And I hurt you."

"It wasn't your fault."

He scowled.

"John?"

"What, Kitten?"

"John…I…I love you."

He balked and stammered at her for a minute. She smiled and pressed one finger to his lips. "It's okay," she whispered. "You don't have to say it back. You…may not even feel that way. But…but I do. And I wanted to tell you. I mean…I tried to show you with…that…but…"

It was his turn to place one finger over her lips.

"Do you regret it? Even though you are hurting and I won't tell you my feelings?"

"No, I don't regret that either. I don't regret anything with you."

"Was…was that good for you at all?" he asked, looking away.

"Yes, a bit. It was…both good and bad. It was bittersweet, I suppose."

"Well, that's better than just bitter."

"Mhm, better by half," she agreed, pillowing her head on his chest and closing her eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

Notes: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers!

Reviews make for happy Sprites.

* * *

As the winter wore on Kitty decided that she had never been happier than she was now with John, but she also missed Laura and Rogue something fierce.

"John…" she said softly one afternoon.

"Hm?"

"Would…well…I…" she stammered, worrying her lip between her teeth.

"You want to go back to school," he stated calmly.

"I miss them," she whispered. "It's mid March now; we've been here three months. And although I've enjoyed it, and I like being here with you…that's three months that I haven't had any contact with anyone else. Plus, it was actually at freezing outside today," she said with a grin. "The lake won't stay frozen forever."

"The middle's already not safe, but the edges should hold for another month or so."

She nodded to show she'd heard him, but did not speak.

"Well, as the car is gone we don't have a way to get back."

"That's true," Kitty murmured, looking away.

"You could call Storm. How many times has she called you now? Fifty?"

"Sixty-two, she's stepped it up a bit. I have over thirty voice mails from her now."

"Why don't you call her, Kitten? I'm sure she'll bring the X-Jet to pick you up."

She whipped her head around and stared at him with wide eyes. "Pick _me_ up?"

"I'm not sure I would be welcomed back. I'm the one that talked you into running away, remember?"

"She doesn't know that! I'll tell her it was my idea."

"You know she won't believe that," he responded gently.

"She doesn't hate you, you know."

"There's no love lost between me and anyone at that school."

"Do you want me to go?" she asked thickly, holding her eyes wide so the tears wouldn't fall.

"I want you to do what you need to do. And if going back is that, then I respect your decision."

"I don't want to go without you!" she wailed.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"It'll be summer soon," she pleaded. "Most of the students will be gone! We can leave again before they get back if you want. Please, come with me, please."

"Don't beg, Kitten, it's unbecoming."

She looked at him desperately.

"I'll come with you," he sighed.

"You will?"

"Yes, but I won't stay there forever."

"But you will for a while?"

"For a while," he agreed.

The grin she gave him was enough to stave off his regret, at least for a bit. Kitty then bounced across the room to grab her phone, before punching in Storm's number.

"Storm?" he heard her say hesitantly. "Yes, it's me," she replied. "No, no I'm fine! I'm great, actually." A pause, then, "Yes, John's great too." A longer pause this time before, "We would like to come back, yes, at least for a while, but the car kind of…died," Kitty said, fidgeting around like she was nervous.

John continued to watch her intently.

"Yes, that would be great!" she chirped and John listened as she rattled off their location. "Tomorrow? Hold on," she ordered before turning to John. "Tomorrow?" she asked with hope in her eyes.

He nodded.

"Yes, tomorrow would be good! Okay, thanks, Storm. Bye."

She hung up and turned to John. "She's coming for us tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll go talk to the White's and then skate into town and let our employers know we won't be coming back."

"Do you want me to come?"

"No, you stay here and pack up. I'll bring some dinner back from the pub."

"Okay. John?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she whispered, crossing the room and kissing him softly on the lips.

He didn't reply, but rather squeezed her hand and slipped outside.

* * *

The next day their bags were packed and waiting by the door and Kitty and John decided to go out skating once more before Storm picked them up.

"How long do we have, Kitten?"

"An hour or so."

They laced their skates up and hit the pond, Kitty twirling in graceful circles while humming a song of her own creation before suddenly bursting into peals of laughter for no reason that was apparent to John.

"Kitten, I don't think I've heard you laugh so much in your entire life than I have in the last few hours," John commented as he skated around her.

"I wish I could say the same for you, Mr. Allerdyce," she replied, grinning.

"I know something that'll make you laugh," he voiced, with a gleam in his eye.

"And what would that be?" she replied coyly.

He lunged toward her, aiming to tickle her sides.

"Oh, no you don't!" she squealed, skating out towards the middle of the pond while John chased her.

She got quite a lead on him and didn't notice that she was getting all the way out to the center, until she heard a crack that sounded like a bullet. She turned around in shock and saw that John was yards away, features stark with alarm.

"GO BACK!" she screamed, lunging toward him and waving her arms. At that moment the ice gave way with a mighty groan. Kitty went under in one lurching movement, the freezing water taking her over and stealing her breath.

"Kitty! Phase!" John yelled, skating out toward the splintering ice as fast as he dared. "Phase, Kitty, phase!"

He saw one hand wave in the air and knew that she was panicking. Once he reached the edge of the safe ice he got on his hands and knees, crawling to the place where she had gone under. He was still screaming for her to phase, hoping that she got her wits about her and came to the surface, but she did not.

He peered over the edge, looking desperately for her and, after what seemed like an eternity but was really only a few seconds, he saw her come toward the surface. He leaned out to grab at her and with another groan the ice that he was kneeling on splintered off, dumping him into the icy fray.

The water was beyond cold and took his breath, his sanity, his thoughts, everything. But then he opened his eyes and saw that she was floating just under the ice right in front of him - her eyes were open and she was still moving but it was sluggish. He forced himself to reach out and grab her by the arm; he managed to propel them over with frozen limbs that didn't work right. He shoved her toward the surface, trying his best to get them both out. He hurled her up onto a piece of ice and as soon as his head broke water and he got a breath in his lungs he screamed at her to phase and get away, but she didn't respond. He pulled himself up beside her and it splintered again.

John managed to roll Kitty several feet before he went under again. It was so much harder to reach the surface this time. His arms were too frozen to grab at the ice and he was so heavy… His head broke the surface and he saw Kitty sitting up, coughing water everywhere and shivering violently. She seemed disoriented and was gazing around absently. He tried to scream at her to phase, to get him out, to help him, but he couldn't get the breath he required to speak. The ice was so close, but his hands wouldn't reach…

Once Kitty got her bearings a bit she began to scream for John, and she finally saw his scarf trailing up over the ice. She scrambled toward it, crying out his name again when she realized that he was not attached to the scarf. The young woman wrapped the sodden cloth around her neck and took a deep breath - this time when she went under she was ready.

Over and over she went under and phased, looking desperately for John before having to surface for another breath. She was beyond freezing and her thoughts were sluggish, but she knew she had to keep searching. It was ages, centuries, eons, before she found him floating halfway under the ice yards away from the place where the ice had originally splintered. With strength she didn't know she possessed, she managed to haul John up out of the water and pull them far enough away from the thin ice so that they wouldn't go under again.

She stared down mutely at his cold, blue face, eyes open and glassy; with slow, shaky movements Kitty did chest compressions and mouth to mouth, but none of it worked. "John," she began to whisper. "John, John…" When she got enough breath she began to scream it before finally dissolving into tears.

Storm found them a few moments later - Kitty curled around John's still form, shaking and sobbing and making no sense at all as Storm tried to get her to talk. With tears in her eyes, Storm motioned the others over. Rogue pulled Kitty away and wrapped her in a dry coat, while Wolverine gathered up John's body and carried him to the X-Jet.

Storm grabbed the bags from just inside their cabin before returning to the plane and taking off.

"I couldn't get him out," she heard Kitty sob to Rogue.

"You got him out, sugar," the girl replied. "It was just too late."


	20. Chapter 20

Notes: Thanks to all of my lovely reviewers, you guys have been AMAZING through this whole thing! Now....here we have the Last Chapter.

Please see the additional note at the bottom.

Reviews make for happy Sprites!

* * *

By the time they got back to the mansion Kitty was largely non-responsive. Rogue wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her off the jet - they'd gotten her to change clothes but she was still shivering violently though they couldn't tell if it was from cold or shock.

"Get her to take a hot bath and put her back in her old room with Laura. I'll bring a hot meal up for her soon," Storm ordered.

Rogue grabbed both bags and led Kitty to the elevator. The only sound was of Kitty's teeth clacking together and Rogue guided her along the hall to the bedroom that she had shared with Laura. Kitty stood just inside the door, looking as though she wasn't sure where she was. Rogue dug through her back and pulled out some underwear, pajamas and her toiletries, before leading her to the bathroom down the hall.

She had to help Kitty in the shower, but once the hot water hit her it seemed to jar her out of wherever it was she had been. The girl began to sob, deep and gut wrenching, as though they would tear her to pieces. Finally her cries dissolved into hacking coughs and she phased through the curtain and tub to land on her knees on the floor. Rogue wrapped a towel around her and moved to cut the water off. Finally she got Kitty to get up and dry and dress herself. Rogue toweled her hair mostly dry and led her to her room to find Storm finishing up making her bed. There was a tray of steaming soup next to her.

"Kitty?" Storm asked softly as Rogue guided the girl to the bed. "I brought you some soup."

But as much as they tried they couldn't get her to eat. As they were gently prompting her to drink some water the door flung open, bouncing off the wall, and with a cry Kitty phased.

"Hey, Laura," Rogue greeted the girl as she stalked across the threshold.

Laura stared at Kitty. "You came home."

Kitty blinked up at her and shook her head. With a sob she curled up on the bed and buried her head under her pillow.

"Let's let her rest," Storm said softly, getting to her feet and beckoning Rogue from the room. Laura got to stay, but only because it was her room.

* * *

"You're not going to tell her?" Rogue heard Wolverine rumble as she lurked outside Storm's office.

"Her not knowing will be a kindness, Logan," Storm replied.

"How do you figure that?"

"Don't you remember what happened with Jean?"

"Of course I remember," he growled.

"Then you should understand."

"This is a completely different situation!" he roared.

"The professor backs my decision," Storm replied icily.

Wolverine stormed out then, nearly knocking into Rogue.

"Sorry, kid," he muttered gruffly.

"Storm?" Rogue asked as the woman appeared in the doorway. "What…?"

"Nothing, Rogue. Did you need something?"

"I was wondering about John's funeral."

"Tomorrow."

The next day turned out to be chilly and overcast. Kitty's cough grew worse and she spiked a fever of 103, but try as they might they couldn't keep her in bed. She wouldn't speak unless asked a direct question and was so weak she could hardly stand on her own, but she got herself dressed and phased down to the grounds for the funeral. In the middle of it she got up from her seat and wandered away - everyone let her go without comment. The next morning they found her asleep on John's grave, her comforter wrapped around her, but not giving her much protection from the cold night air. Rogue led her back to her room and there she stayed for days, leaving only to visit the bathroom.

"I'm not dead," she croaked to Rogue one afternoon.

"What, sweetie?" Rogue whispered.

"You all tiptoe around and speak in hushed whispers, but I'm not the one that's dead. Though I should've been."

"Oh, Kit, don't think like that."

"I hurt. I hurt all over inside and out. I've never…it's never been this bad."

"Can I get you anything?"

She didn't respond, but rolled over and put her back to her friend.

* * *

Rogue walked into Kitty's room the next day to find her sitting up in bed with a large pair of silver scissors in her hand and clumps of her lovely long hair falling around her.

"Kitty?"

"He liked my hair," she sobbed. "He always liked to tangle his fingers in it and he'd comment on how much he liked it and he would tuck it up under my hat."

"Oh, sugar," she whispered, sitting on the bed and pulling the girl into her arms. "Getting rid of the things that remind you of him won't make it hurt any less."

Kitty continued to sob. "We had such a good time. I...I loved him. And now he's gone. And it's all my fault. I panicked. I didn't phase."

"The water was probably below zero. It wasn't your fault, sugar, it was just an accident."

"It was my fault!" she screamed hoarsely, voice cracking and turning the words into a cough that doubled her over which just made the sobs worse. "I just want to sleep. I want to sleep and wake up and this all have been a bad dream."

"It doesn't work like that," Rogue replied.

"Just leave me alone," she croaked, tossing the scissors to the ground and curling up in the midst of her hair clippings.

"Kitty…"

"He never said he loved me," she sobbed. "I thought he did but he couldn't say it and now he never can!"

Rogue gazed at Kitty forlornly as she tried to tuck her newly shortened hair behind her ears. "The way he looked at you…remember the dance? He cared deeply for you. And he…he died to save you. If that's not love I'm not sure what is."

She shoved at Rogue, crying even harder now. Shaking her head, Rogue left the room.

* * *

"I thought I had it all figured out, Laura," she murmured one afternoon as she twined John's scar around and around her hands before unwinding it again. "I was so happy with John. And he was happy with me. And we were going to stay up there until we got bored and then maybe go south for a while. We were going to travel and be so happy. And now he's gone. And it feels like he took my heart with him. Like I'll never be happy again. It feels like all the good times were just this fleeting dream and now all I'm left with is this ever present darkness that won't go away."

"Sometimes that's all life is," Laura replied. "You just have to try to press on."

"Press on," Kitty whispered. "Okay. Laura, will you get me some more of this soup?"

Laura smiled brightly, "Yes!"

Once she scurried out of the room Kitty rose laboriously to her feet, feeling as if her entire body was made of lead. "Press on…" she whispered, still playing with the scarf.

Kitty Pryde took a breath and phased into the thick wall between her room and the next, counting down the seconds until her breath ran out.

When she got up to three and a half minutes her lungs were about to burst and spots were bursting behind her eyelids.

With an expulsion of breath she whispered, "I love you, John," and the broken hearted mutant failed to take another breath.

_Life is but a dream… _

* * *

Notes: So…are John and Kitty dead? Is Rogue still with Remy? Well, my lovelies, that is why people make SEQUELS. And I am making one for this. It will be called "Burn You Down" and chapter one should go up later this week. Thoughts?


	21. Chapter 21 outtakes

Notes: And here are the outtakes! Sorry it took me so long. :( Also, the sequel is now up! It's called Burn You Down and picks up more or less where Anchored ended.

* * *

**Outtake 1**

The prompt for this piece was to literally describe a habit that the main character has.

~*~

Kitty Pride was out of reach of everyone and everything, no matter how close in proximity she happened to be to them at any given time. Normal obstacles like walls and people and furniture mattered didn't matter one bit to her. They weren't even a minor inconvenience. All the other students had to weave around the desks in the classrooms, open doors to get from one room to another and avoid running into their fellows in the corridors. Not Kitty, though. She was the exception to the rule, always.

This girl did not avoid obstacles; rather she simply passed straight _through_ them. Her mutation gave her the ability to be intangible, untouchable - a ghostly presence amid a solid world. And that was how she liked it.

Kitty had lived with it so long that it was now largely an unconscious thing to utilize her power. If anything came near her as she walked through the mansion her mind would automatically will her body to be other, to lose its solidity, to make itself safe. The girl had to purpose to stay solid when moving throughout the school or its grounds.

Unlike the others, Kitty decided when someone touched her or when she took the long way around the sweeping shelves to her favorite section of the library. She consciously chose when to open the door instead of simply melting into its surface. Selecting normality, solidity, was a rare thing when she was among other people. Kitty didn't even notice how much she relied on her power. But John did.

* * *

**Outtake 2**

The prompt for this was to write a flashback that was less than 500 words and somewhere contained diapers.

~*~

John picked himself up off the floor, remembering the last time someone had got the best of him in such a way…

Blink was controlling the TV, as he usually did, and for some reason unknown to anyone but the strange mutant he was watching an infomercial about "New and Improved Super Diapers! - keep your baby diaper rash free forever!" John was minding his business when the Wolverine came in, mad as hell about something or other. He grabbed John up by the shoulders and shook him before hurling him forcefully to the ground.

"Keep. Out. Of. My Room," he growled before stalking off.

* * *

**Outtake 3**

The prompt was: "Everyone loves a good foreigner. Especially an aggressive foreigner. It's better when you don't understand him. Put your character in such a situation."

~*~

A knock on the door startled Kitty from her musings and Laura gave an almost unintelligible sigh of relief.

"Who is it?" Kitty cried.

"It's Peter."

Kitty bounced over to the doorway and opened it. "Hi, Peter!" she cheerfully exclaimed. "What's up?"

"I need you to come downstairs with me we have a…visitor…and no one can understand him. It seems he may be speaking Gaelic and you're the only one with any experience in that language."

"Well I'm far from fluent!"

"No one else knows anything about it but he sounds rather Scottish and he doesn't speak English so Gaelic is the only thing we can think of. You have the best language background of anyone here. We need your help, Kit."

She blushed a bit at that and nodded. "All right, let's go."

They made their way down to Storm's office where the woman sat, looking particularly flustered, with a wiry mutant with dark hair and bright red swirled patterns all over his skin.

She politely said hello and asked him if he spoke Gaelic. He then began to yammer at her loudly, waving his arms.

"Um…I caught a yes," she squeaked, looking at Storm.

"I'm sorry, could you slow down?" she asked again in halting Gaelic.

The man grew red in the face and began yelling so loud that Kitty phased for fear that he would become violent. He advanced on her, now gesticulating wildly and giving her deathly glares.

"I can't do this!" Kitty squeaked, phasing through the wall and leaving Peter and Storm to deal with the rampaging foreign mutant.

* * *

**Outtake 4**

The prompt for this one was a picture of a phone booth in the middle of a field.

~*~

Rogue burst into Kitty's room clutching a bright pink ballet flat to find Laura sitting on her bed staring at the wall.

"Oh! Hey, Laura, I'm just returning Kitty's shoe."

"Where is she?"

"She was in the library reading. She let me grab her shoe for the scavenger hunt earlier."

"Oh. I had a strange dream."

"A dream?" Rogue asked, a bit confused at this turn in the conversation.

"Yes. I was going to tell Kitty but she isn't here. I was in a brushy field with mountains and a few trees in the background. I was in a red telephone booth. Like the kind that you see in England. It was just sitting there in the field. And I kept trying to make a call but no one would answer me. And then I woke up to an empty room."

"Well that's strange and a bit startling," Rogue replied.

"Yes, it was," Laura said before pushing past Rogue and vanishing down the hall.

* * *

**Outtake 5**

Prompt_: "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."_

~&~

Laura made her way downstairs toward the library but was stopped by a ruckus in the hallway. It appeared that some of the younger mutants were having a friendly fight and acting like cheerful idiots. Objects were flying everywhere and people were laughing and ducking and dodging.

"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye," she heard Storm mutter as she brushed by Laura in a hurry to stop the antics of the students.

"Unless you all want detention and to be confined to your rooms for the rest of the day you will stop this right now!" she said firmly. "We don't want anyone losing an eye now, do we?"

With a groan and a great clatter as various flying objects hit the floor the students ceased their disruptive and dangerous play

"Now, if you want to be rowdy go outside and do it!"

With that, they all trooped outdoors.


End file.
